Afghans face hunger when they go back home. 9 in 10 Afghan families skip meals, sell their property and take on debt, just to survive, show a UNDP survey. With a collapsing economy, the country received 4.5 million returnees since 2023. The poor state of the Afghan economy is made worse buy the fact that women’s workforce share falls to 6%, as the Taliban have imposed a multitude of gender motivated restrictions and discriminations on movement that have made it almost impossible for Afghan women to access jobs, education or healthcare.
At present, the 6% Afghan women’s workforece is one of the lowest in the world.
Kanni Wignaraja, UN assistant secretary-general and UNDP regional director for Asia and the Pacific, said, acording to Reuters, “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.”
Afghan households headed by women, accounting for as many as 26% of returnee Afghan families in some districts, face the highest risk of food insecurity and secondary displacement.
The UNDP urged Taliban authorities to allocate more resources and called on donors to lift restrictions on female aid staff. “Cutting women out of frontline aid work means cutting off vital services for those who need them most,” Wignaraja said.
The United Nations also warned that Afghan mass returns are exacerbating the country’s worst crisis since the Taliban returned to power.
A United Nations Development Programme report said nearly one in 10 overseas Afghans has been forced to return, mainly from Iran and Pakistan, and had as result an increased population by 10%.
Also, a series of earthquakes, floods and drought have destroyed 8,000 homes and strained Afghan public services beyond their limits.
A UNDP survey of more than Afghan 48,000 households shows that more than half of Afghanistan’s returnees have skipped medical care to buy food and 45% rely on open springs or unprotected wells for water.
Nearly 90% of returning Afghan families are in debt, owing $373 to $900, up to five times the average monthly income of $100 and nearly half of annual per-capita GDP, the UNDP said.
In areas with high numbers of Afghan returnees, one teacher serves 70 to 100 students, 30% of Afghan children work and joblessness among returnees reaches 95%. The average monthly income is 6,623 Afghanis ($99.76), while rents have tripled.
The UNDP warned that without urgent support to strengthen livelihoods and services in high-return areas, overlapping crises of poverty, exclusion and migration will deepen.
UNDP also says that sustaining aid is critical as donor pledges have plunged since 2021, covering only a fraction of the $3.1 billion that the UN sought for Afghanistan this year.
Recently, The World Health Organization (WHO) in Afghanistan has received an additional €1million from European Union (EU) Humanitarian Aid, bringing total EU health funding in Afghanistan to €7 million since May 2025.
The extra funding will help WHO expand its emergency health response, with a focus on delivering lifesaving services to underserved Afghan communities and Afghan returnees across the country.
According to the Afghanistan Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan 2025, 14.3 million people face limited access to essential health care due to underfunded services, facility closures and a shortage of Afghan female health workers.
As Afghanistan continues to face complex humanitarian challenges, including natural hazards, displacement and disease outbreaks, maternal health, trauma care and disease prevention are urgent priorities.
EU support will allow WHO to enhance surveillance of infectious diseases through the deployment of surveillance support teams (SSTs), improve the supply of medical materials and strengthen coordination for the Afghan returnee response.
“This additional contribution from the EU helps ensure that no one is left behind – even in the most remote or crisis-affected areas,” said WHO Representative in Afghanistan Dr Edwin Ceniza Salvador.
“Access to health is a right, not a privilege.” Dr Edwin Ceniza Salvador.
https://thegatewayspi.org/a-color-revolution-in-afghanistan/
