KABUL — Afghanistan is set to remain one of the world’s most severe humanitarian crises in 2026, with an estimated 21.9 million people projected to require assistance, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported on Tuesday.
“Years of conflict, economic fragility, underinvestment in basic services, and the rapid erosion of rights have left large segments of the population with diminished resilience,” the report stated.
These longstanding vulnerabilities are exacerbated by escalating food insecurity, mass cross-border returns of refugees, climate-induced droughts, recurrent natural disasters, disease outbreaks, and the systematic marginalization of women and girls from public life, it said.
Humanitarian partners plan to target aid to 17.5 million of the most vulnerable individuals in 2026, requiring $1.71 billion in funding, the report concluded.