The Afghanistan Humanitarian Fund (AHF) commemorates its 10th anniversary, with the UN’s Humanitarian Coordinator reporting a significant rise in the number of people requiring assistance in Afghanistan over the past decade.

The UN notes that, through the AHF, aid has reached over 86 million individuals since the fund’s establishment.

Founded in 2014, the AHF was designed to support rapid and strategic humanitarian actions across Afghanistan. On Sunday, October 27, the UN Humanitarian Coordinator published a report marking the fund’s 10-year milestone, emphasising the ongoing critical need for humanitarian aid in the country.

The report details the challenges Afghanistan has endured in the past decade, including persistent conflict, political instability, drought, earthquakes, food insecurity, the COVID-19 pandemic, poverty, and heightened vulnerabilities for women and girls.

According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), more than 23 million people in Afghanistan still depend on humanitarian assistance—a figure that has grown substantially since AHF’s inception.

Joyce Msuya, UN Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, has urged the international community to continue supporting the AHF in order to address Afghanistan’s urgent humanitarian needs.