The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs (Mr Hamish Falconer)
Today I am updating the House on the humanitarian situation in Afghanistan, and the UK Government’s continued support for those most in need. Instability in Afghanistan continues to matter to the UK, creating risks of terrorism, a resurgence in illegal narcotic production and irregular migration.
The humanitarian situation remains of grave concern, and the people of Afghanistan have endured yet another tragedy following a major earthquake that struck Kunar province on 31 August, devastating fragile communities, killing 2,200 people and injuring over 3,600. The aftermath will have a disproportionate and lasting impact on women and girls. The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office has released £4 million in emergency funding to deliver critical healthcare and emergency supplies to those affected. This includes support for clean water and emergency shelter, essential hygiene items for women, maternal care and psychological support to address the most acute needs of women and girls. These funds are channelled directly through the United Nations, the Red Cross and non-governmental organisations with a track record of delivery in the affected area.
This disaster is compounding an already dire humanitarian situation. In 2025, nearly 23 million people require humanitarian assistance in Afghanistan. This includes over 12 million people facing acute food insecurity, 14 million people with limited access to healthcare, and nearly 8 million women and children requiring nutrition assistance. The convergence of prolonged drought and mass returns from neighbouring countries risks triggering even further deterioration. Between January and September, over 2 million Afghans have returned from Iran and Pakistan. On 29 September Afghanistan faced a nationwide shutdown of internet services. While connectivity has been mostly restored, any future disruption would pose a serious threat to the delivery of lifesaving assistance and would further isolate marginalised communities.
As needs are rising, we are facing a global decline in humanitarian funding, leaving critical gaps. Between January and August 2025, more than 400 health facilities have closed or suspended services. The United Nations population fund reports that about 30% of its facilities offering sexual and reproductive health services have also closed, affecting an estimated 4 million Afghan women and girls with limited or no access to services. Needs continue to outstrip resources, and we are particularly concerned about the impact of winter on remote communities, where there is a growing risk that increasing malnutrition will result in the preventable deaths of vulnerable children. Recognising this, the UK Government are committing £7 million to pre-position essential food and nutrition supplies, to provide a lifeline for targeted communities, and have called on other donors to step up their support. This funding will potentially reach hundreds of thousands of vulnerable Afghans over the winter period. No UK Government funding goes directly to or through the Taliban. All funding is provided directly to implementing partners who are highly experienced at delivering in difficult circumstances and ensuring that aid is only used to help those most in need. We have robust third-party monitoring for all our official development assistance funded programmes, to provide additional assurance that money is used for the intended purposes.
The UK Government continue to play a leading role in responding to this crisis. In the 2024-25 financial year, UK aid provided humanitarian assistance to at least 2.7 million people, including over 1.7 million women and girls. As part of the UK’s humanitarian assistance, at least 1.2 million people were reached with essential health services, at least 324,000 people with food assistance and at least 513,000 lactating women and children under five with nutrition-related interventions. Afghanistan remains one of the FCDO’s largest bilateral aid programmes, with £151 million allocated for this financial year. Our new climate resilience and livelihoods programme will help around half a million Afghans to become more self-sufficient in their food needs and to adapt to water stress and flood risk over the next year.
We are using our influence to press for a more sustainable global response. On 17 July, Baroness Chapman co-launched the joint flagship initiative, First Foods Afghanistan, with UNICEF in London. We have committed £8 million to this project to tackle the drivers of malnutrition. In November we will host a dedicated conference to galvanise broader international support for this critical issue. On 29 and 30 September, the UK’s special representative for Afghanistan hosted G7 and other senior counterparts in London to discuss the security, humanitarian, economic and political challenges in Afghanistan, emphasising the importance of co-ordinated international engagement and advocating for the global aid response is to be as efficient as possible in the context of reduced funding and rising needs. We are bringing together donors and operational partners to forge lasting solutions to malnutrition.
We have been working closely with the international community to press the Taliban to adhere to their international commitments on human rights. We continue to engage with the Taliban to urge them to provide humanitarian access and to call out their abhorrent policies towards women and girls. The UK’s resolve to support the Afghan people for the long term remains unwavering. We continue to work with international partners to hold the Taliban to account, to ensure that Afghanistan’s crisis remains high on the global agenda and that our assistance reaches those who need it most, particularly women and girls.
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