Afghanistan’s Children Trapped in Endless Crisis: UNICEF Raises Alarm Over Urgent Need for Global Action

UNICEF and aid groups warn that Afghanistan’s children face hunger, lack of shelter, and shattered futures as conflict and displacement deepen humanitarian emergency

Kabul, September 17 – The children of Afghanistan are bearing the heaviest burden of a crisis that shows no sign of ending. According to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), decades of conflict, poverty, and restrictions have stripped Afghan children of their most basic rights—leaving them vulnerable to hunger, disease, and a future without education or safety.

In its latest statement, UNICEF stressed that access to healthcare, clean water, education, and child protection is no longer just a right but a lifeline for Afghanistan’s youngest generation. The organisation acknowledged the vital role played by the Embassy of Japan in Afghanistan, which has been helping to deliver essential services to children most in need.

International aid organisations have repeatedly warned that no group is more at risk than Afghanistan’s children, who are enduring the most devastating consequences of the crisis. With each passing day, their opportunities for a safe and stable future continue to diminish.

The urgency of the situation has only been amplified by the plight of Afghan refugees recently deported from Pakistan. Families forced to return are struggling with hunger, homelessness, and an uncertain future.

One such returnee, Bibi Shams, voiced her despair: “We need land to build homes, and my children are hungry. Winter is coming, and we are in need of aid.”

Another returnee, Dua, explained the struggle with inadequate relief: “There has been some aid, but it’s not enough. Many among us have neither homes nor shelter. We need care and support for our survival.”

According to Arafat Jamal, Head of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Afghanistan, nearly 100,000 Afghans were deported from Pakistan in the first week of September alone, highlighting the scale of the displacement crisis.

UNICEF’s renewed appeal underlines an urgent truth: without swift international intervention, millions of Afghan children risk being lost to hunger, disease, and despair. The world’s responsibility, as UNICEF warns, is to ensure these children are not abandoned but given a chance to live, learn, and dream again.