Kabul woke up Thursday morning to the first snowfall of the year, blanketing the city’s bumpy streets and rooftops, but it also highlighted the dire hardships its citizens continue to face.
Afghanistan is facing a deepening humanitarian crisis, with a record 29.2 million people, more than two-thirds of the population, in urgent need of humanitarian aid. As temperatures plummet, mostly families without access to heating are struggling to endure freezing nights in poorly insulated homes.
Despite the snow, many residents continue to line up at distribution centers, waiting for a ration of flour or oil. The severe economic crisis and lack of job opportunities are also forcing an increasing number of women and children to live on the streets, even in harsh winter conditions, to beg to survive. Zarah described her daily struggle: “The snow is beautiful, but we have no firewood to keep warm. Our children are hungry and there is no water to drink or cook with,” she said as she wrapped her four children in worn blankets. Local aid organizations have stepped up efforts to distribute food and heating supplies, but the scale of the crisis continues to outstrip resources.
In a post on X, the UN Food Agency expressed concern about the dire humanitarian situation in Afghanistan, saying that around 15 million people- one in three- do not know where their next meal will come from. Malnutrition rates are rising at an alarming rate. The World Food Programme (WFP) estimates that around 3.5 million children under the age of five and more than one million pregnant and breastfeeding women will suffer from acute malnutrition in 2025, marking a 28% increase from 2024, and announced that it will need $787 million to continue its humanitarian operations and prevent famine among Afghans during the winter.
In recent years, the capital Kabul has been facing an increasingly serious economic and social crisis, compounded by a major water shortage. Reservoirs and wells are underproducing, forcing many families to rely on unreliable water supplies or to ration what they have. Furthermore, over the years, unregulated drilling of deep wells has exacerbated the depletion of aquifers, leaving the city on the brink not only of a water crisis, but also of a health crisis. According to the Global Climate Risk Index, Afghanistan is the sixth most vulnerable country to climate-related threats, further underscoring the urgency of sustainable water solutions. UNICEF has also raised the alarm: Kabul’s aquifers could be completely depleted by 2030, due to rapid uncontrolled urbanization and the worsening effects of climate change.
Since the Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan in 2021, the country has plunged into an even deeper humanitarian crisis, becoming one of the world’s largest emergencies. Lack of investment in infrastructure and maintenance, combined with multiple natural disasters, such as earthquakes, floods and landslides, have worsened Afghanistan’s already fragile situation.
While global attention remains focused on the ongoing conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East, the UN agency highlights Afghanistan as another critical hotspot, requiring the utmost attention and substantial international aid to avoid the total collapse of the country.
