UN Report: 34m Afghans Live Under Extreme Poverty

According to a UN study, around 15 million Afghans have been forced into poverty since 2020.

According to a recent UN estimate, about 34 million Afghans are living in poverty, and the economy of the nation is on the verge of collapse.

The research estimates that 34 million Afghans are already living in poverty, up from 19 million in 2020—a 15 million rise. According to the research, the Taliban’s accession to power the following year was largely to blame. When nations refused to negotiate with the Taliban in 2021, numerous aid programs were reduced, causing an economic catastrophe.

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) issued a study on Tuesday in Kabul that describes how Afghanistan’s economic production decreased by 20.7 percent when the Taliban took power in 2021.

Afghanistan’s predicted 40 million inhabitants means that at least 85% of the country would live in poverty. The minimum amount necessary to assist Afghans in need is set at $4.6 billion in the UN relief request for 2023.

According to the paper, any decrease in foreign help will aggravate Afghanistan’s economic predicament and lead to terrible poverty that would last for decades.

Abdallah al-Dardari, the UNDP resident representative in Afghanistan, stated, “Afghanistan may fall from the cliff edge into the abyss” if foreign aid is reduced this year.

To make due, Afghans have been selling their homes, terrains and resources for produce pay. According to the report, some people have turned their daughters into child brides and their children into laborers.

The report says that the amount of money needed by Afghans today to keep up their spending may have reached $5.3 billion, up from $900 million two years ago.

Without Afghan women’s involvement in the economy and public life, the country’s recovery would fail to last. According to the report, the restriction of women’s rights, including the prohibition of Afghan women working for NGOs, has a direct impact on economic productivity.

According to Kanni Wignaraja, UNDP regional director for Asia and the Pacific, “only the full continuity of girls’ education and women’s ability to pursue work and learning can keep the hope of any real progress alive.”

The Taliban government made the initial decision in December to end women’s access to university education and later implemented a complete ban on women’s education. However, some schools for girls have continued to operate.

Residents, elders, and religious leaders in Afghanistan and around the world have questioned the Taliban’s claims that it is permissible in Islam to restrict women’s access to education and employment since it came back to power in the summer of 2021.

The move was generally denounced by legislatures all over the planet, remembering for the Center East and the more extensive Muslim world.

Saudi Arabia’s foreign ministry expressed “surprise and regret” and urged Kabul to reverse the decision. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called the Taliban’s ban “unIslamic” and promised to keep an eye on the situation until it was resolved.