Afghanistan faces ‘perfect storm’ of crises, UN warns

This article is published in association with United Nations.

Afghanistan is confronting “a perfect storm” of overlapping crises, the UN’s outgoing envoy warned the Security Council on Wednesday, as an Afghan women’s rights advocate told the body that Taliban policies amount to “gender apartheid” which are suffocating a whole generation of girls.

Roza Otunbayeva, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Afghanistan, told ambassadors that while the country has seen a relative decline in armed conflict since the Taliban takeover in 2021, the humanitarian, economic and human rights situation has deteriorated significantly.

“It is an open question whether there is sufficient pragmatism among the de facto authorities [the Taliban] to manage this perfect storm of crises, or whether decisions driven by ideology will prevent sustainable solutions,” she said.

Women and girls shut out

Central to the crisis, Ms. Otunbayeva stressed, are sweeping Taliban restrictions on Afghan women and girls.

Schools for girls above grade six have now been closed for four years, costing the economy an estimated $1.4 billion annually, according to the World Bank. A recent UN Women survey found that most Afghans oppose the bans.

“This is most clear regarding the de facto authorities’ policies towards Afghan women,” she said. “A generation is at serious risk of being lost at a huge long-term cost to the country.”

UN Photo/Loey Felipe

Roza Otunbayeva (on screen), Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Afghanistan briefs the Security Council.

‘Gender apartheid’

Also taking the floor at the Council, Hanifa Girowal, Vice President of the Afghan group Women’s Rights First, was even blunter, describing the Taliban’s policies as “gender persecution” and “gender apartheid.”

Speaking on behalf of women inside the country and in exile, she recounted the story of a young woman in Kandahar who lamented: “By now I should have completed my master’s degree and become a law professor…instead, for four long years, I have lived in uncertainty, unable to decide my own future. How much longer must I wait?”

Ms. Girowal, who was also a former deputy governor of Kabul, warned that the systematic exclusion of half the population “is not just a denial of education – it’s a deliberate policy of forced confinement, exclusion and subjugation.”

Aid at risk

The UN has provided nearly $13 billion in humanitarian and basic needs assistance since 2021, much of it delivered despite restrictions and with strengthened safeguards to prevent diversion.

Yet humanitarian assistance is under strain, Ms. Otunbayeva cautioned, with international funding cut by nearly 50 percent this year.

“These cuts are partly the result of Afghanistan’s anti-women policies,” she said, adding that the enforcement of bans on Afghan women working for NGOs and the UN has already hindered relief efforts, including after recent earthquakes.

“This serious restriction hinders the UN’s ability to help the Afghan people at their moment of great need,” she warned.

Ms. Girowal called for the Council to adopt a resolution reaffirming the unconditional purpose of humanitarian aid and establishing an independent international monitoring mechanism to track diversions and ensure accountability.

UN Photo/Loey Felipe

Economic and climate strains

Beyond aid, Afghanistan’s economy remains on life support. Growth of 2.7 per cent is lagging behind population increases, while 75 per cent of Afghans live at subsistence level, compounded by cuts to the public sector.

Climate change is deepening the hardship. A new drought threatens the majority-rural population, many of whom are subsistence farmers.

Ms. Otunbayeva warned that Kabul – home to almost six million people – could become “the first modern city to run out of water” within years, not decades.

The ban on poppy cultivation, enforced since 2023, has reduced opium production but devastated poor farmers who once relied on it for their livelihoods. Meanwhile, more than two million Afghans have returned from Iran and Pakistan in the past two years, stripping the economy of $1 billion in remittances and straining local services.

Limited progress and engagement

Ms. Otunbayeva noted some positive developments since 2021, including the Taliban’s general amnesty for former opponents, relative stability after decades of war, and measures to curb torture and allow UN human rights access to prisons.

The sustained ban on poppy cultivation also has regional benefits, she said, if sustainable alternatives for farmers are found.

However, she stressed that further progress depends on meaningful engagement with the Taliban under the UN-led Doha process, which seeks to balance pragmatism with respect for international norms.

“Most Afghans want engagement between the international community and their country to continue, despite the obstacles,” she said, urging the Security Council to maintain unity on Afghanistan.

© OCHA/Charlotte Cans

More than 23 million people in Afghanistan require humanitarian assistance.

Time is running out

Echoing the call for Security Council unity and action, Ms. Girowal called for setting clear benchmarks for engagement with the Taliban.

These, she said, should include reopening schools and universities for girls, restoring women’s right to work, and granting full access for UN monitors.

She also called on countries to halt forced deportations of Afghans, citing over two million returns from Iran and Pakistan in 2025 alone, which she said had led to persecution and even killings.

“We are running out of time,” she said. “The situation on the ground is only getting worse…but the good news is that you can do something about it.”