Help support UNICEF’s emergency response in Afghanistan
Afghanistan is one of the most dangerous places to be a child.
Afghan children and families are experiencing increasingly deteriorating living conditions since the Taliban seized power in August 2021. Decades of conflict have left the country on the brink of collapse and children are the ones paying the highest price.
Multiple challenges – including prolonged conflict, chronic poverty, a gender crisis and economic hardships – have already collided to create one of the biggest humanitarian crises in the world. Recent cross‑border fighting and the large‑scale return of Afghan families from neighbouring countries, including Iran and Pakistan, are driving new displacement, casualties and added pressure on Afghanistan’s already overstretched services.
More than 21.9 million people, including 11.6 million children, are in urgent need of emergency assistance in 2026.
Women and girls are the hardest hit by the situation in Afghanistan. Bans on secondary education and workforce participation, coupled with restrictive daily-life rules, has significantly increased their protection risks, devastated their rights to an education and restricted their access to healthcare. The impacts will be felt for generations to come.
UNICEF remains in Afghanistan working to provide lifesaving support to children and families affected by this crisis. But we can’t do it alone.
Your donation to the Afghanistan Emergency Fund will help UNICEF staff in Afghanistan continue delivering essential aid and services to children and families, including:
- Emergency shelter supplies, blankets and warm clothes
- Treatment for severe acute malnutrition
- Emergency water and sanitation supplies
- Mental health and psychological support for children and caregivers