Afghanistan's humanitarian aid system is under severe financial strain. According to the latest monitoring report from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), only $513 million in new funding had been reported by August 31 against the $1.71 billion required for 2026, leaving 70% of the plan unfunded and a gap of about $1.2 billion. Some 21.9 million people in the country need humanitarian assistance.
The report said aid groups reached 9.3 million people with at least one form of help between January 1 and August 31, or 53% of the 17.5 million targeted. They included 3.1 million women, 1.7 million men, 2.3 million girls and 2.1 million boys. Far fewer received help covering several needs at once: 1.4 million people, against a target of 5.2 million.
Food aid remains the largest part of the response, reaching 5.1 million people, yet the food security and agriculture sector received only about $105.9 million of the $651.1 million it needs, or 16%. The sector estimates 17.4 million people need help.
The health sector received about 38% of its $190.8 million requirement and reached around 4 million people by August, while 14.4 million need health assistance. Nutrition was only 17% funded, although 7.5 million people need nutrition support. In education, 7.1 million children need help, but only 215,000 of the roughly 614,000 children targeted had been reached.