UNDP report indicates worsening economic insecurity in Afghanistan

Kabul [Afghanistan]: The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in its latest report, has indicated a worsening economic insecurity under the Taliban’s rule in Afghanistan, Afghanistan-based Khaama Press reported. 

The UNDP report, released on January 18, revealed that 69 per cent of Afghanistan’s population faces a shortage of necessities, including suitable living conditions, healthcare, essential goods, and vital job opportunities. 

According to this report, the social and economic situation in Afghanistan has darkened since the Taliban seized power, resulting in severe economic insecurity for the people of the country. 

According to the UNDP report, currently, seven out of 10 people in Afghanistan are not able to meet their basic life requirements and face economic insecurity. 

The findings of the report continue to highlight the restrictions on women’s rights and its impact along with the collapse of the banking system in Afghanistan, according to Khaama Press report. 

Despite the Taliban’s initial promise to take a moderate approach towards women’s rights after it seized power in August 2021, the ban on higher education is just one of many steps that the group has taken to limit women’s role in society. 

After seizing control over Afghanistan, the Taliban banned girls from going to school beyond the sixth grade and imposed strict rules requiring women to wear hijabs. 

Taliban has banned women from working with aid agencies, both domestic and international. They closed down beauty salons and blocked women from working with domestic and international non-governmental aid groups, sparking international outrage on the matter. 

Earlier this month, Human Rights Watch released a new report stating that the Taliban has intensified its suppression of human rights, especially women’s rights, in Afghanistan, Khaama Press reported. 

In this report, Human Rights Watch Executive Director Tirana Hassan stated that 2023 was a year of widespread human rights abuses and war crimes across the world. She also mentioned signs of hope, indicating the possibility of a different path. She urged the Taliban to uphold their human rights commitments. 

According to the report, Afghanistan is the only country in the world where women are officially banned from education. It said the Taliban has increasingly enforced repressive policies in 2023, including the suppression of women’s protests, the arbitrary detention of women activists, the disappearance of some women after detention, and their torture and that of their family members. 

Human Rights Watch stated that the ban on women’s work has deprived many Afghan women of their livelihoods. It connected a part of Afghanistan’s economic crisis to the restrictions that have been placed on women’s employment, Khaama Press reported. 

Highlighting the need for humanitarian assistance in Afghanistan, Human Rights Watch said nearly two-thirds of the population requires humanitarian aid due to the economic hardships faced by the people of Afghanistan.