New york: The United Nations Security Council discussed the situation in Afghanistan Wednesday, receiving a briefing on the humanitarian crisis from Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Tom Fletcher. Fletcher said that around 22 million Afghans will need humanitarian assistance in 2026, ranking Afghanistan third globally in terms of humanitarian crises, after Sudan and Yemen.
According to Jordan News Agency, Fletcher stated that $1.7 billion is being requested to target 17.5 million people, with a top priority to reach 3.9 million people in urgent need of aid, requiring $375.9 million. He highlighted that for the first time in four years, the number of people facing hunger has increased to 17.4 million. Essential services are under pressure as Afghan refugees return in record numbers, with over 2.6 million returning in 2025, bringing the total over the past two years to more than four million.
Fletcher emphasized the precarious situation of these returnees, many of whom arrive with minimal belongings and are hosted by financially strained communities lacking resources to accommodate them within an economy unable to meet their basic needs.