Afghanistan: Humanitarian Update, January 2025

HIGHLIGHTS

Afghanistan’s education crisis: A generation at risk Pg. 01

Humanitarian access in Afghanistan: 2024 overview Pg. 02

Relocation of families from Kabul’s informal settlements to Kunduz Province begins with initiation of a pilot project Pg. 03

Afghanistan Humanitarian Fund’s cash assistance offers hope to vulnerable communities Pg. 04

AFGHANISTAN’S EDUCATION CRISIS: A GENERATION AT RISK

In Afghanistan, access to education remains a critical and long-standing challenge, due to both restrictive de facto authority (DfA) policies and structural underlying factors such as poverty and under-development.
Currently, some 1.5 million girls are out of school following the DfA’s ban on education for girls beyond Grade 6, which was imposed in March 2022 and is now entering its third year. This prohibition has left girls at greater risk of illiteracy, child labor, early marriage and exposure to gender-based violence and negative coping mechanisms, further exacerbating the hardships faced by Afghan women across the country. In December 2024, the de facto Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) announced a ban on women attending public and private medical institutes, the one remaining sector where they had been able to continue university-level studies following the ban on higher education in December 2022. At the same time, almost 9 million children, including 888,000 with disabilities, are in need of education in emergencies support in 2025.

The DfA’s verbal instruction in June 2023 on the transition of Community-Based Education (CBE) classes from international NGOs to national NGOs and ultimately to Provincial Education Directorates (PEDs), has also posed significant challenges. This shift has drastically limited access to education, with only 1,315 out of 4,332 transitioned classes remaining functional by December 2024. As a result, almost 52,000 children, mostly girls, have dropped out of school. The Ministry of Education’s emphasis on investment in public schools has raised concerns about the future of CBE programming, which serves as a critical lifeline for children in remote and underserved areas. Currently the Ministry is reviewing the CBE model as a whole and a new way of addressing out of school children will be proposed.

Moreover, poverty remains one of the greatest barriers to education in Afghanistan. According to the 2024 Whole of Afghanistan Assessment, 11 per cent of households reported that they had deprioritized education due to financial constraints. Children on the move also find it difficult to access education particularly, returnee populations from Iran and Pakistan. In 2024, only 20 per cent of the almost 182,000 school-aged returnee children who returned were able to access education, largely due to documentation issues, financial difficulties, language barriers, cultural differences and a shortage of schools, learning spaces and teaching materials in their areas of return.1 With potentially large influxes of additional returns (1.6 million according to IOM/UNCR estimates) expected in 2025, the proportion of out of school children looks set to increase. To address the urgent education needs in Afghanistan, the Education Cluster is seeking US$93.3 million in 2025 to support 831,000 children .2 The funding will help supply teaching materials, train teachers and community shuras, establish temporary learning spaces and sustain support for CBE classes that cannot transition to formal schooling.

The estimated cost per beneficiary in 2025 is $112, reflecting a slight increase due to expanded interventions launched in 2023 and 2024, as well as additional costs for mahrams and third-party women monitors for CBE programmes, particularly following the implementation of the Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice (MoPVPV) ‘Morality Law’. To ensure a more sustainable response, the Education Cluster is working with the DfA and basic human needs partners through the Education Strategic Thematic Working Group to close funding gaps and align longer-term educational goals with humanitarian efforts.3 However, as of January 2025, only $7.9 million just (8.5 per cent) of the required funding has been secured.4 Without urgent financial support, millions 2 This target could be further reduced based on the re-prioritization exercise undertaken currently due the US funding cuts announced in January 2025 3 Afghanistan Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan 2025 4 Financial Tracking Service (FTS) of children will be deprived of basic education, worsening Afghanistan’s learning crisis. The international community, donors and humanitarian partners must step up efforts to bridge this funding gap and ensure that every child in Afghanistan has an opportunity to learn and thrive.

As the world observed Education Day on 24 January, this year’s theme was "AI and Education: Preserving Human Agency in an Automated World." Global discussions focus on the role of artificial intelligence in facilitating learning. Yet, in Afghanistan, the priority remains far more fundamental: ensuring access to basic education for all children. While technology is shaping the future of education elsewhere, Afghan children – especially girls – are still fighting for their right to learn.

Now is the time to act. More funding, policy interventions and international advocacy are urgently needed to safeguard education in Afghanistan. Without immediate action, an entire generation risks being left behind, with devastating consequences for the country’s future. Education is not just a service it is a fundamental right that must be protected at all costs.