Nine in 10 Afghan families skip meals, take on debt: UNDP

Nine in 10 families in Afghanistan are going hungry or falling into debt as millions of new returnees stretch resources in poverty-stricken areas in the east and north, according to the United Nations.

Taliban-controlled Afghanistan – battered by aid cuts, sanctions and repeated natural disasters, including a deadly quake in August – is struggling to absorb 4.5 million people who have returned since 2023. About 1.5 million were forced back this year from Pakistan and Iran, which have intensified efforts to expel Afghan refugees.

A UN Development Programme (UNDP) report released on Wednesday said returning Afghans are reeling from severe economic insecurity. More than half of returnee households are skipping medical care to afford food while more than 90 percent have taken on debt, the report said.

Their debts range from $373 to $900 when the average monthly income is $100, according to the report, whose findings were based on a survey of more than 48,000 households.

Returnees are also struggling to find decent housing as rent prices have tripled. More than half report lacking sufficient space or bedding while 18 percent report having been displaced for a second time in the past year. In western Afghanistan’s Injil and Guzara districts, “most returnees live in tents or degraded structures,” the report says.

The UNDP called for urgent support to strengthen Afghans’ livelihoods and services in high-return areas.

“Area-based recovery works,” said Stephen Rodriques, UNDP resident representative in Afghanistan. “By linking income opportunities, basic services, housing and social cohesion, it is possible to ease pressure on high-return districts and reduce the risk of secondary displacement.”

Aid for Afghanistan, still reeling from the impact of decades of war before the United States’s withdrawal in 2021, has plummeted, and donor countries have failed to meet the $3.1bn the UN sought for Afghanistan this year.

The Taliban government appealed for international humanitarian assistance after this year’s earthquake, and it has formally protested against Pakistan’s mass expulsion of Afghan nationals, saying it is “deeply concerned” about their treatment.

‘Women prevented from working’

The UNDP also warned that limited economic opportunities for women in Afghanistan are exacerbating the plight of returnees, who more frequently rely on female breadwinners.

Participation by women in Afghanistan’s labour force has fallen to 6 percent, one of the lowest globally, and restrictions on their movement have made it nearly impossible for women who head households to access jobs, education or healthcare, the agency said.

“Afghanistan’s returnee and host communities are under immense strain,” 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.”

“Cutting women out of the front-line teams means cutting off vital services for those who need them most, including returnees and victims of natural disasters,” she added.