World Food Programme: Assisting over 1.5 million Afghan students in past year

The World Food Programme has announced in continuation of the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan that it has assisted over 1.5 million girls and boys in the past year to stay focused on their studies and learn better.

The organization wrote on its social platform X, on Tuesday, February 20th, that over 1.5 million schoolgirls and boys have received a food assistance package containing essential nutrients in the past year.

The World Food Programme is reporting assistance to Afghan students amid poverty and humanitarian crisis wreaking havoc in the country, and according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) report, the level of people’s need in Afghanistan for humanitarian aid has sharply increased.

Findings from the UN’s Humanitarian Aid Coordinating Office (OCHA) indicate that nearly 30 million people (roughly two-thirds of Afghanistan’s population) are heavily reliant on humanitarian assistance.

Last year, WFP reached more than 1.5 million boys and girls in primary schools with school snacks + 144,000 girls with vegetable oil & flour.

This helps them stay focused on their studies, learn better and bring back food to their families. ???? pic.twitter.com/dSZE00rwqH

— World Food Programme in Afghanistan (@WFP_Afghanistan) February 19, 2024

This situation has impacted the quality of education in Afghanistan, leading to an increase in child labor or children being deprived of access to education.

Previously, on the occasion of World Education Day, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) announced that many children in Afghanistan go to school hungry.

The World Food Programme also stated on World Education Day that it distributes fortified biscuits every morning to 700,000 boys and girls.

While the program did not elaborate on its assistance to students, it emphasized, “It helps them (students) stay focused on their studies, learn better, and bring food back to their families.”

The level of education and the issue of children’s access – especially girls’ access – to education in Afghanistan have long been the subject of much contention, and experts believe that children bear the heaviest cost of poverty and humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan.

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