A new UNDP report reveals mass deportations and natural disasters have strained the country ‘beyond its limits,’ with women and children bearing the brunt of the crisis.
KARACHI – Afghanistan’s fragile economic recovery is unraveling, with nearly 90% of households resorting to skipping meals, selling assets, or taking on crippling debt just to survive, according to a United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) report released Wednesday.
The crisis, described as the worst since the Taliban returned to power, is being severely exacerbated by the mass return of over 4.5 million Afghans since 2023—a 10% population increase—mainly due to deportations from neighboring Iran and Pakistan. This influx, combined with devastating earthquakes and floods, has pushed public services “beyond their limits.”
“The situation is dire,” the report stated, based on a survey of 48,000 households. “Without urgent support to strengthen livelihoods and services in high-return areas, overlapping crises of poverty, exclusion and migration will deepen.”
A Cycle of Crippling Debt and Deprivation
The financial burden on families is overwhelming. The average returning family owes between $373 and $900—a sum that is up to five times the average monthly income and nearly half of the country’s annual per-capita GDP.
This debt forces impossible choices. More than half of all returnees have skipped essential medical care to afford food, while 45% rely on unsafe water sources. In areas saturated with returnees, classrooms are overwhelmed with up to 100 students per teacher, and joblessness among returnees has reached a staggering 95%.
Women Systematically Locked Out
The report highlights a particularly devastating impact on women, whose participation in the labor force has collapsed to just 6%—one of the lowest rates in the world. Taliban restrictions on movement and employment have made it nearly impossible for female-headed households to access income, education, or healthcare.
“This is a critical failure,” said Kanni Wignaraja, UN assistant secretary-general and UNDP regional director for Asia and the Pacific. “In some provinces, one in four households depend on women as the main breadwinner, so when women are prevented from working, families, communities, the country lose out.”
These households now face the highest risk of severe food insecurity and being displaced yet again.
The UNDP issued an urgent call for action, urging the Taliban authorities to allocate more resources and appealing to international donors to reverse a sharp decline in aid funding and lift restrictions on female aid workers, which effectively cuts off vital services to the most vulnerable.
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