A devastating drought spanning four consecutive years in northern Afghanistan has created a perfect storm for children's health and safety. According to a Save the Children assessment conducted in September 2025 across drought-hit provinces, nearly two-thirds of families reported an increase in child labor, while only about one in five children are attending school. The crisis reveals how climate disasters don't just affect water and crops; they fundamentally undermine children's nutrition, education, and protection from exploitation .

What's Happening to Children's Health in Drought-Stricken Afghanistan?

The numbers paint a grim picture of childhood malnutrition and health decline. About 9 million children, or one in three across Afghanistan, are facing severe hunger. More alarming, 3.7 million children aged under five are acutely malnourished, meaning their bodies are not receiving adequate nutrition for healthy growth and development . Two-thirds of families surveyed reported visible signs of poor growth in their children, including thinness and stunting, which are markers of chronic malnutrition that can have lifelong effects on physical and cognitive development.

The water crisis compounds these health risks. About 85% of families reported a significant or moderate decrease in water availability compared to the previous year, and roughly half of all children in the impacted provinces lack daily access to clean water . Without safe drinking water, children become vulnerable to waterborne illnesses like diarrhea and cholera, which are especially dangerous for malnourished kids whose immune systems are already compromised.

One mother's story illustrates the desperation families face. Belqis, a 30-year-old living in northern Afghanistan with her husband and six children, described the impossible choices she makes daily. Her one-year-old daughter, Sultana, is being treated for severe acute malnutrition at a Save the Children clinic. Belqis explained the core problem: "We can't afford better nutrition. The only thing she gets is milk, and my milk is not sufficient because I don't have enough food, especially the food the doctors tell me to eat." Before the drought, her family grew their own crops and produced most of their own food. Now, they must buy everything from the market at prices they cannot afford .

Belqis, a 30-year-old living in northern Afghanistan with her husband and six children

Why Are Children Being Pulled Out of School and Into Work?

The drought has destroyed livelihoods so completely that families are forced to make heartbreaking decisions about their children's futures. Save the Children's assessment identified the key drivers pushing children out of classrooms and into labor: financial hardship (45% of families) and the need for children to work to support their families (42% of families) were the primary reasons 79% of children were not attending school .

The employment crisis is severe. More than nine out of ten families rely on temporary work for income, yet job opportunities have become scarce as water sources dry up and crops cannot be planted. More than a quarter of respondents reported losing jobs in the four months before the assessment was conducted . With no income and no savings, parents see their children's labor as the only way to keep the family fed.

Nearly three-quarters of families are resorting to loans and credit to buy food, creating a cycle of debt that makes the situation even more desperate. The drought has now lasted four consecutive years, causing nearly 80% of rain-fed wheat crops to fail in several provinces . This is not a temporary hardship; it is a sustained catastrophe that has fundamentally broken the economic systems families depend on.

How Can Communities and Organizations Support Children Through Climate Crises?

• Emergency Cash Assistance: Direct financial support to families reduces immediate pressure to send children to work and helps stabilize food consumption. Save the Children has provided two rounds of cash assistance to nearly 650 households, including 382 female-headed households, in Jawzjan and Faryab provinces, demonstrating that targeted aid can help keep children in school and at home .
• Nutrition and Health Services: Clinics providing supplementary food, medicines, and treatment for severe acute malnutrition are critical for reversing the damage of prolonged food insecurity. Children like Sultana require specialized care and nutritional rehabilitation that families cannot provide alone during crises.
• Water and Sanitation Infrastructure: Access to clean drinking water is non-negotiable for child health. When half of children lack daily access to safe water, waterborne diseases compound malnutrition and weaken immune systems, making investment in water systems essential for protecting children's health.
• Education Support and Incentives: Programs that make school attendance feasible, such as meal programs or transportation assistance, help counter the economic pressure forcing children into labor. Education is a protective factor that keeps children safe and builds their future resilience.
• Flexible, Long-Term Funding: Climate-driven crises require sustained support, not one-time interventions. Donors must commit to flexible funding that allows organizations to adapt as conditions change and to provide the multi-year support these communities need to recover.

Bujar Hoxha, Country Director of Save the Children in Afghanistan, emphasized the urgency of the situation: "Drought is silently destroying children's lives. The toll of four years of a drastic lack of water is clear; children are hungry, working and out of school. Land that once grew crops is parched. Livelihoods are decimated. Children should not be paying the price for this climate-fueled catastrophe." He added that Afghanistan is facing a convergence of crises at a time when funding has been slashed and needs are immense .

Bujar Hoxha, Country Director of Save the Children in Afghanistan

The situation extends beyond drought alone. Nearly 4 million children are acutely malnourished, more than 5 million people have returned from Pakistan and Iran, the country is still recovering from massive earthquakes, and rising food prices are threatening to increase hunger further . This layering of crises means that children's health is deteriorating on multiple fronts simultaneously.

The assessment also revealed that pregnant and breastfeeding mothers are eating less than usual, which directly impacts the nutrition available to infants and young children. A nutrition nurse working in a Save the Children clinic observed: "The children in this village lack proper food, and most of them don't have a full stomach. Children are thin, and the growth of children is lower than normal due to drought, a lack of safe drinking water and poverty" . This professional observation underscores that malnutrition in Afghanistan is not a matter of individual family choices but a systemic failure caused by climate disaster and economic collapse.

The crisis in Afghanistan serves as a stark reminder that children's health is inseparable from environmental stability, economic security, and access to clean water and food. When climate change disrupts these foundations, children pay the highest price. Without urgent, flexible funding and sustained international support, millions of Afghan children will continue to face hunger, disease, and lost educational opportunities that will shape their health and futures for decades to come.