Afghanistan

Afghanistan is facing an unprecedented humanitarian crisis with a serious risk of systemic collapse and human catastrophe. In addition to unimaginable human costs, this crisis is reversing many of the gains of the last 20 years, including around women’s rights.

The end of the 20-year armed conflict between the Taliban and the Afghan National Security and Defence Forces in August 2021, and the simultaneous takeover of the country by the Taliban have ushered in a new era characterized by rapid economic decline, hunger and risk of malnutrition, inflation driven by global commodity shocks, drastic rises in urban and rural poverty, a near-collapse of the national public health system, a stifling of the media and civil-society sectors, and almost total exclusion of half the population – women and girls – from public life.

Afghanistan is also highly prone to natural hazards, whose frequency and intensity are exacerbated by the effects of climate change.

In 2023, a staggering 28.3 million people – or two thirds of Afghanistan’s population – will need urgent humanitarian assistance to survive, as the country enters its third consecutive year of drought-like conditions and its second year of crippling economic decline, all while still reeling from the effects of 40 years of conflict and recurrent natural disasters. 

High unemployment and sustained inflation of key commodity prices have increased the average household’s debt, challenging people’s coping mechanisms and thwarting the already fragile economy’s ability to adapt to shocks.

Within this reality, 17 million people face acute hunger in 2023, including 6 million people at emergency levels of food insecurity – one step away from famine and one of the highest figures worldwide.

The Taliban's 24 December 2022 decree barring women from working in national and international nongovernmental organizations has significantly affected meaningful access to women and girls in need.

We are providing people with increased support for the winter with heating, shelter and food. The response is also addressing the specific challenges of people in underserved areas, such as cholera and malnutrition.  

Fundamentally, the only sustainable way to address the intertwined climactic, economic and political crises in Afghanistan causing the humanitarian emergency is through greater investments by the de facto authorities and the wider development system in services addressing basic needs and critical infrastructure.