Afghanistan Humanitarian Emergency
Afghanistan’s protracted crisis has produced vast humanitarian needs. An estimated 23 million people will require assistance in 2026, amid economic collapse, recurrent climate shocks, and severe restrictions on the rights and movement of women and girls. Large-scale returns from Iran and Pakistan throughout 2025, a trend expected to continue, have compounded these pressures.
Two major earthquakes in 2025 worsened vulnerabilities. In late August, a 6.0-magnitude earthquake near Jalalabad devastated parts of Nangarhar and Kunar, killing more than 2,000 people and destroying entire villages. Roads and mountain passes were blocked for weeks, leaving women and girls cut off from functioning health facilities. Just weeks later, on 3 November, a 6.3-magnitude earthquake struck Balkh and Samangan, collapsing homes, damaging health centres and triggering new displacements as winter approached. The combined aftershocks of destroyed shelters, disrupted services, restricted mobility and heightened protection risks will carry over well into 2026.
For women and girls, Afghanistan remains one of the most dangerous places in the world to give birth. One woman dies every two hours from pregnancy-related causes. Millions have little or no access to skilled care. An estimated 24,000 women give birth each month in hard-to-reach areas with acute barriers to safe delivery. Services for survivors of gender-based violence remain extremely limited due to restrictive operating conditions and chronic underfunding. In 2025, UNFPA was forced to terminate more than 40 humanitarian projects due to a global shortfall of approximately $335 million – one third of which affected Afghanistan – severely disrupting life-saving services for an estimated 6.3 million women and girls in the country.
With its national partners, UNFPA sustains essential sexual and reproductive health, protection and psychosocial support services across all provinces. These include community-run Family Health Houses staffed by midwives, mobile health teams reaching remote districts with maternal and child healthcare, and psychosocial counselling centres embedded in government hospitals. Integrated services offer critical entry points to care amid extreme volatility.
