Afghanistan faces deepening crisis as nearly half population will need aid in 2026: UN

New Delhi, Dec 11: Nearly half of Afghanistan’s population will require protection and humanitarian assistance in 2026, senior UN officials told the Security Council, warning of worsening human rights conditions and a sharply deteriorating humanitarian landscape, UN News reported.

Georgette Gagnon, Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Afghanistan, said women and girls remain “systematically excluded” from public life.

The ban on secondary and higher education for girls has now entered its fourth year, depriving the country of a future generation of doctors, teachers and leaders.

Media freedoms are also shrinking, she added, with journalists facing rising intimidation, censorship and detention.

Afghans of all backgrounds endure daily intrusions under the de facto authorities’ “propagation of virtue and prevention of vice” law, which UN officials described as systematic interference in private life.

UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Tom Fletcher told the Council that nearly 22 million Afghans will require aid next year, placing the country among the world’s largest humanitarian crises. “For the first time in four years, the number of people facing hunger has gone up,” he warned, noting that 17.4 million Afghans are food insecure.

Massive funding cuts have forced the closure of more than 300 nutrition delivery points, leaving 1.1 million children without lifesaving treatment.

The health system is also under severe strain, with 422 facilities shuttered in 2025, cutting off care for three million people.

Afghanistan is also grappling with record numbers of returnees.

More than 2.6 million Afghans have returned this year alone, taking the two-year total to over four million.

“Women and children made up 60 percent of all returns this year,” Fletcher said, arriving in communities already struggling with poverty and limited services.

Economic pressures persist despite modest GDP growth of 4.5 per cent.

Per capita income is expected to fall by about 4 percent due to population growth, Gagnon said. Rural incomes have collapsed by 48 per cent following the third year of the opium cultivation ban, highlighting urgent needs for alternative livelihoods.

Tensions with Pakistan, including border closures lasting two months, have disrupted trade and civilian movement.

Meanwhile, aid operations are being hampered by escalating restrictions on women.

Since September, female national UN staff have been barred from entering UN premises nationwide, a measure Fletcher called “unacceptable” and one that is crippling humanitarian delivery.

“There can be no effective humanitarian response without women. Afghanistan needs them,” he stressed.

UNAMA said rights remain “out of reach for too many,” particularly women, girls and vulnerable groups such as journalists, former officials and civil society members facing risks after involuntary returns.

“Human rights are not optional,” Gagnon said. “For Afghanistan, ensuring women and girls can learn, work and participate fully is indispensable to recovery.”

Despite immense challenges, the UN continues to operate, releasing over $40 million in emergency funding in recent months to respond to earthquakes, drought and mass returns.

But Fletcher warned that deepening underfunding is costing lives.

“As we look to 2026, we risk a further contraction of lifesaving help at a time when food insecurity, health needs and protection risks are all rising,” he said, urging urgent international support to prevent the crisis from worsening as reported by UN News.