Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent assessment his Department has made of the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan.

Afghanistan continues to face a serious and worsening humanitarian crisis, affecting more than half of the population. Over 28 million people are expected to be in humanitarian need in 2023, including an estimated 19.9 million people who lack access to sufficient food with 92% of households struggling to meet daily food needs. Some 4.7 million children and women are currently at risk of acute malnutrition. On 11 January 2022, the UN launched an appeal for $4.4 billion for 2022, the largest humanitarian appeal on record, reflecting the magnitude of the humanitarian challenge ahead. The UK has played a leading role in responding. On 31 March 2022, the UK co-hosted a donor conference with the UN, Qatar and Germany at which the UK committed £286 million for this financial year. The conference raised over $2.4 billion for the UN's humanitarian appeal.