In a country where even childhood is a daily risk, Afghanistan under Taliban rule is facing a silent crisis masked by loud slogans and shallow displays of control. A new UNICEF report has revealed that only 16.2% of Afghan children are fully vaccinated, leaving millions at the mercy of diseases long eradicated elsewhere.
Despite this alarming figure, the Taliban regime continues to project a façade of stability—through staged events, propaganda-driven media, and superficial partnerships—while governance crumbles behind the scenes. Internal rifts, lack of institutional capacity, and suppression of humanitarian actors have left Afghanistan’s youngest generation dangerously exposed.
UNICEF estimates that up to 5.4 million child deaths could be prevented between 2021 and 2030 through vaccination—if there were serious state-level commitment. But instead of investing in public health, the current Afghan leadership has prioritized narrative control, silencing dissent, and restricting access to information and aid workers.
The World Food Programme (WFP) adds to this grim picture, warning that 4 million mothers and children are already battling malnutrition, and another 3.5 million children may be at risk by 2025—under a regime that has failed to address basic human needs.
Even amid donor support from countries like Japan, efforts by agencies like UNICEF remain drastically under-resourced, partly due to bureaucratic obstruction and mistrust in the Taliban’s ability—or willingness—to deliver.
In today’s Afghanistan, a child faces danger not just from disease or hunger, but from the void of governance. Vaccines, food, and safety have become political casualties in a system more invested in optics than outcomes.
As children suffer in silence, the Taliban’s hollow promises echo louder than the cries of those they’ve failed to protect.
