Official Statistics

FCDO Afghanistan Official Development Assistance results: April 2025 to March 2026

Published 3 September 2026

This factsheet summarises support delivered to the people of Afghanistan through Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) bilateral Official Development Assistance (ODA) programmes in financial year 2025 to 2026. Afghanistan faces severe humanitarian challenges, with widespread food insecurity, limited access to healthcare, vulnerability to climate shocks and inadequate water and sanitation.

Key context statistics 

In Afghanistan:

• 21.9 million people in need of humanitarian assistance. (Source: OCHA, 2026)
• 17.4 million people facing high levels of acute food insecurity. (Source: IPC, Nov 2025 to Mar 2026)
• 3 million returnees from Iran and Pakistan. (Source: IOM, Apr 2025 to Mar 2026)

Headline results 

Number of people reached with humanitarian assistance

• at least: 5,080,000
• of which: 3,013,000 women and girls

Includes: WASH, food, nutrition, health, safety, resilience and wellbeing, education, livelihood and agriculture support. Therefore, there is an overlap between this result and the other results presented.

Number of people reached with essential health services

• at least 2,932,000
• of which: 1,836,000 women and girls

Includes: essential health support, emergency health kits, medical consultations, birth attendance, vaccines, reproductive health services and maternal and child health.

Number of people reached with emergency food assistance

• at least 2,418,000
• of which: 1,183,000 women and girls

Includes: in-kind food aid and cash/vouchers for food.

How to use the data

FCDO Afghanistan results are collected on a unique beneficiary basis, which means each beneficiary is only counted once per result, regardless of how many times they receive assistance. All definitions can be found in the glossary in the methodology note.

To avoid double-counting, only the implementing partner with the largest reach in each Afghan province is included in the aggregated total (i.e. the results presented in this publication). Figures are rounded down to the nearest thousand. These results represent a conservative estimate and should be interpreted as an “at least” estimate.

Results must not be summed together; there is overlap between the results. For instance, if someone receives food aid and receives access to safe drinking water, they would be captured in both results.

These statistics are a snapshot of the results achieved in financial year 2025 to 2026; they do not capture the full breadth of UK government support in Afghanistan.

Humanitarian 

Humanitarian aid is the provision of emergency assistance or preventative support with the aim to save lives and alleviate suffering. It can be in the form of in-kind support, such as food ration packages, or cash/vouchers, enabling recipients to choose what their family needs most such as food, shelter and blankets. Essential health, education, safety, resilience and wellbeing support, agriculture and livelihood support, nutrition and water and sanitation in a protracted humanitarian crisis such as Afghanistan are also described as humanitarian assistance and are included in the headline result.

People reached 

These indicators capture unique beneficiaries reached with FCDO programmes, see methodology section for detailed method.

In the financial year 2025 to 2026, through FCDO funding, at least:

• 5,080,000 people received humanitarian assistance, of which 3,013,000 were women and girls

Support included, at least:

• 2,418,000 people were reached with emergency food assistance (both in-kind and cash), of which 1,183,000 were women and girls
• 1,189,000 people received cash or voucher transfers, of which 583,000 were women and girls. For example, this includes cash for food and essential household items (e.g. blankets)
• 1,424,000 people received in-kind food assistance to prevent malnutrition, of which 697,000 were women and girls
• 78,000 people received kits or cash for non-food items and winterisation, of which 39,000 were women and girls, these typically include clothes, blankets, essential household items such as cooking utensils

Items and transfers distributed 

These figures capture all items/transfers from across all our partners activities.

In the financial year 2025 to 2026, through FCDO funding, at least:

• approximately $19 million of cash grants and/or vouchers were distributed
• 17,000 metric tonnes of food was distributed
• 8,000 non-food item and winterisation kits distributed

Disability disaggregation 

It is estimated at least 0.6 million people with disabilities were reached with humanitarian assistance through FCDO funding.

Where possible, FCDO requires partners to provide results disaggregated by disability (as well as sex and age). Partners take different approaches to collecting and estimating the number of people with disabilities reached, for detailed information see methodology note.

Health 

Essential health services can include emergency health kits, medical consultations, birth attendance, vaccines, maternal and newborn care and reproductive health services.

People reached 

These indicators capture unique beneficiaries reached with FCDO programmes, see methodology section for detailed method.

In the financial year 2025 to 2026, through FCDO funding, at least:

• 2,932,000 people were reached with essential health services, of which 1,836,000 were women and girls

Support included, at least:

• 982,000 people reached with reproductive, maternal and newborn health services (RMNH^{[footnote 1]}), of which 952,000 were women and girls

Separate to this, through FCDO funding, at least:

• 1,403,000 people received health education and awareness information sessions, of which 1,017,000 were women and girls

Items/services delivered 

These figures capture all items/transfers from across all our partners activities; the people reached from these activities are reflected in the people reached with essential health services result.

In the financial year 2025 to 2026, through FCDO funding, at least:

• 4,044,000 vaccine doses of Measles, Hepatitis B and Penta3 were administered to children
• 2,013,000 medical consultations were provided
• 45,000 emergency health kits were distributed
• 9,000 births were attended by skilled health personnel
• 2,000 health workers were trained

Age and sex disaggregation 

Over three-fifths (63%) of people reached with essential health services were women and girls. Among male beneficiaries with known age data^{[footnote 2]}, children under 18 represented the largest proportion of those reached, driven primarily by vaccine delivery. Support for women and girls was more evenly spread across age groups, reflecting the delivery of RMNH, which primarily supports adult women.

Figure 1: People reached with essential health service, by sex and age category (millions)

Safety, resilience and wellbeing 

These services can include psychosocial and mental health support, activities that promote the wellbeing, safety and resilience of women and girls, child protection services, and legal assistance to help vulnerable people access documentation, services and their rights.

In the financial year 2025 to 2026, through FCDO funding, at least:

• 627,000 people were reached with safety, resilience and wellbeing support

Support included, at least:

• 618,000 people were reached with psychosocial support (PSS) activities. Examples of PSS delivered through FCDO support included counselling and Psychological First Aid

• 35,000 children and youths^{[footnote 3]} were reached with child protection support

Nutrition 

This assistance includes support to children under five years of age and pregnant and breastfeeding mothers to treat and prevent wasting – a severe life-threatening form of malnutrition.

In the financial year 2025 to 2026, through FCDO funding, at least:

• 753,000 children under 5 and pregnant and lactating women were reached with nutrition related interventions, of which 550,000 were women and girls

• 7,000 metric tonnes of food supplements were distributed through nutrition related interventions

Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH)

WASH interventions are focused on improving access to clean and safe water, safe disposal of waste and minimising environmental contamination and improving personal hygiene, all contributing towards preventing illness.

In the financial year 2025 to 2026, through FCDO funding, at least:

• 1,441,000 people benefitted from water, sanitation and hygiene assistance, of which 740,000 were women and girls

Support included, at least: 

• 67,000 people accessed a sufficient quantity of safe water for drinking, cooking and personal hygiene, of which 34,000 were women and girls

• 1,117,000 people accessed improved sanitation/hygiene facilities, of which 581,000 were women and girls

Education 

Education programming focuses on interventions where both boys and girls have equal access which includes accessing learning, teacher training, supplying teaching and learning materials and improving educational facilities.

In the financial year 2025 to 2026, through FCDO funding, at least:

• 27,000 children were supported to access early years and primary education, of which 14,000 were girls, this includes access to lessons, materials and improved facilities

• 27,000 education kits were distributed to children, these kits typically include pencils, pads, chalkboards and/or textbook

• 11,000 teachers were supported with training and learning and development, of which 3,000 were women

Livelihood, agriculture and climate 

Livelihood, agriculture and climate programming focuses on improving the food security, nutrition and climate resilience of the people of Afghanistan. Activities include improving water and natural resource management, disaster risk reduction^{[footnote 4]}, livestock protection packages, diversifying crops and livelihoods and strengthening local markets.    

In the financial year 2025 to 2026, through FCDO funding, at least:

• 2,616,000 people were reached with livelihoods support including agriculture interventions, of which 1,273,000 were women and girls
• 546,000 people were supported to better adapt to the effects of climate change, of which 268,000 were women and girls

Demining 

Demining involves identifying, removing and safely disposing of landmines and unexploded ordnance (UXO) to make land safe for civilians and suitable for use (e.g. agriculture etc). In 2025, there were 467 reported civilian casualties related to landmines and UXO in Afghanistan, of which 309 were children^{[footnote 5]}. 

In the financial year 2025 to 2026, through FCDO funding, at least:

• 187,000 people were reached with awareness sessions on the risk of harm from explosive ordnance, of which 92,000 were women and girls

• 4.15 million square metres of land was safely released from a risk of explosive ordnance – the equivalent of approximately 580 football pitches

Women and girls 

FCDO has made a commitment^{[footnote 6]} that 50% of beneficiaries reached with UK ODA in Afghanistan are women and girls.

FCDO has met the commitment in financial year 2025 to 2026, with women and girls accounting for at least 50% of beneficiaries reached.

This is assessed by calculating the proportion of total people reached that were women and girls for each individual partner^{[footnote 7]}. This proportion was calculated based on the result with the largest reach, to minimise double counting. An average is then calculated across partners weighted by the size of the partners’ reach; this means that the partners with the largest number of beneficiaries have the largest influence on the average. For an example of this calculation see the detailed methodology note.

Sex disaggregation is a requirement for FCDO Afghanistan results which count the number of people reached. This enables us to understand our women and girls reach. Below are some of the women and girls results presented throughout this publication collated in one place: 

In the financial year 2025 to 2026, through FCDO funding, at least:

• 3,013,000 women and girls were reached with humanitarian assistance
• 1,836,000 women and girls were reached with essential health services
• 1,183,000 women and girls received emergency food assistance (both in-kind and cash) to prevent malnutrition
• 1,017,000 women and girls received health education and awareness information sessions
• 952,000 women and girls received reproductive, maternal and newborn health care
• 740,000 women and girls benefitted from water, sanitation and hygiene assistance
• 550,000 girls under 5 and pregnant and lactating women were reached with nutrition interventions
• 9,000 births were attended by skilled health personnel

Appeals, pooled and trust funds: calendar year 2025 

FCDO also contributes to Afghanistan focused appeals, pooled and trust funds such as the Afghanistan Humanitarian Fund (AHF - OCHA), Afghanistan Resilience Trust Fund (ARTF – World Bank) and International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).

Appeals, pooled and trust funds are financial contributions from multiple donors combined into a single fund and aim to improve the coordination of humanitarian and basic human needs assistance. These funds currently do not report against FCDO result indicators and report on a calendar year (compared to UK financial year).

Figures in this section have been rounded down to nearest 100 to reflect their estimated nature.

Afghanistan Humanitarian Fund

Afghanistan Humanitarian Fund (AHF) is a country pooled fund co-ordinated by the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). In 2025, the UK share of AHF funding was 12%.

Applying the UK share to AHF results for 2025, we can estimate that the UK contribution helped reach 436,200 people with humanitarian assistance, of which231,000 were women and girls.

This included:

• 177,800 people were reached with health assistance
• 80,300 people were reached with water, sanitation and hygiene assistance
• 56,800 people were reached with nutrition interventions
• 54,700 people were reached with protection support
• 51,700 people were reached with food security and agriculture support.
• 10,200 people were reached with multi-purpose cash
• 4,400 people were reached with emergency shelter and non-food items

To see AHF full results, please see the Afghanistan Humanitarian Fund 2025 Annual Report. OCHA is currently reviewing and strengthening their results methodology and future versions of this publication will reflect their updated approach.

International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) 

ICRC describe themselves as a neutral, impartial and independent humanitarian organisation that protects and assists people in need and victims of armed conflict. In 2025, the UK share of the total ICRC Afghanistan expenditure was 3%.

Applying the UK share to a subset of ICRC Afghanistan published results for 2025, it can be estimated that the UK contribution helped deliver:

• 33,600 people with a reliable supply of electricity and clean water, through Water and Habitat activities
• 65,500 consultations at health centres and hospitals
• 3,500 people with support for food production activities such as agricultural supplies and equipment
• 4,900 people with assistance to protect, restore or increase household income, through livelihood activities such as cash for work projects
• 11,000 vaccine doses provided, almost 90% of which were delivered to children
• 6,800 people in weapon-contaminated areas received risk awareness training to help protect themselves from explosive ordnance

“People” includes civilians, people deprived of their liberty and the wounded and sick, for ICRC definitions and more detailed results see their annual report. 

Afghanistan Resilience Trust Fund (ARTF) 

The ARTF is a multi-donor trust fund managed by the World Bank designed to coordinate international development assistance for the people of Afghanistan. ARTF programmes focus on basic services, including interventions in health, education, food security, and livelihoods.

The UK has contributed to the results achieved through ARTF programmes, which are available in the published ARTF annual progress report. 

Methodology 

• results data was sourced from our implementing partners’ management information and monitoring and evaluation processes. As part of an annual results commission, partners were requested to provide data on a set of pre-defined indicators via standardised templates and guidance (to ensure consistency)

• the list of indicators reflects common types of interventions in a humanitarian context such as food, cash and health. In 25/26 additional indicators have been added to reflect new programming and to better capture activities such as Reproductive, Maternal and Newborn health services (RMNH), WASH and emergency food assistance. The full list of indicators can be found in the detailed methodology note, new indicators have been highlighted in the note

• disaggregation by sex, disability, age and province was requested from partners where appropriate and relevant. Partners take different approaches to collecting disaggregated data, such as using a representative sample of a post-distribution survey or asking each individual beneficiary. See methodology note for further details

• FCDO Afghanistan results are collected on a unique beneficiary basis, which means each beneficiary is only counted once per result, regardless of how many times they received assistance

• implementing partners’ data was aggregated together to obtain estimates of FCDO’s total reach. To ensure that each beneficiary was only counted once in a result, different approaches were used:
  • people reached results – more than one partner reporting: the data (including sex disaggregation) from the implementing partner with the largest reach in each provinces’ was included in the aggregated total. Province totals are then summed together. For example, total people reached through humanitarian assistance was calculated in this way
  • people reached results – just one partner reporting: result definitions already require partners to adjust for double counting within their own beneficiaries; therefore a single partners data can be used without adjustment
  • distribution of items and services results – these results aim to capture all items/transfers distributed; therefore, partner data is summed together with no double counting considerations needed e.g. number of births attended or number of health kits
• as the results collection process has become more established and implementing partners more familiar with the reporting definitions and methodology, we have seen continued improvements in the quality, confidence and granularity of the data provided. Considering this, we will review the methodology used for aggregation and other calculations involved ahead of the next publication and will consider refinements to some sector indicators to better align with future programme delivery
• for more detail including key definitions, please see the separate methodology note which includes a glossary

Strengths and limitations 

• these statistics give us an overview of the impact and reach of FCDO’s Afghanistan ODA in 2025 to 2026, including understanding our reach to vulnerable groups such as women and girls and people with disabilities

• these results represent a conservative estimate — an ‘at least’ measure — due to precautions implemented to avoid double counting beneficiaries (see methodology section). As a result, the total number of FCDO Afghanistan beneficiaries cannot be fully captured

• due to the operating context in Afghanistan, it is not always possible to collect, or quality assure all data and disaggregated data to the desired standards. FCDO is working with partners with a view to improve the quality and the availability of disaggregated data over time

Comparison to 2024 to 2025 results 

• this 2025 to 2026 results publication builds on the 2024 to 2025 results publication. Results are collected as a stand-alone snapshot of what was delivered in that specific period. They are not intended to support direct comparisons with previous years, as humanitarian needs and the response provided can change over time

• the results are also not directly comparable across years due to changes in the mix of programmes, delivery partners and type of assistance provided. Different types of assistance vary in their reach, depth of support and resource requirements. For example, a one-off cash grant to an Afghan returnee compared to sustained support for more productive agriculture

• the reported results in 2025 to 2026 reflects the inclusion of results from newly implemented programmes and support to different types of assistance that by nature have a large reach

Contact 

We are keen to enhance the value of these statistics and welcome your feedback or questions via email: statistics@fcdo.gov.uk.

1. Reproductive, Maternal and Newborn Health (RMNH) does not include child health services which are captured in other health indicators such as vaccines and essential health services ↩

2. The required age disaggregation is not available for beneficiaries of emergency health kits ↩

3. Children are those under 18 years old and Youth are 15 to 24 years old ↩

4. See Glossary in methodology note for definition ↩

5. Directorate of Mine Action Coordination (DMAC) data, ICRC press release ↩

6. UK Parliament, Written Ministerial Statement, 16 July 2026 ↩

7. Please note that this measure is calculated differently from the number of women and girls reached through humanitarian assistance (see humanitarian section), so the two figures should not be compared directly. See the methodology note for more information. ↩