A new report released today by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) shows that Afghanistan's "areas of return" are under mounting pressure, with communities struggling to absorb millions of people returning amid economic contraction, climate shocks and recent earthquakes. The report also reminds of the critical need to lift all bans on women, including restoring women's ability to work and to move outside the home as part of humanitarian and recovery operations. The findings are based on a nationwide survey of nearly 49,000 Afghan households, including more than 1,500 returnee families.
The report, From Return to Rebuild for Afghan Returnees and Host Communities, finds that returnees are settling in already impoverished eastern and northern districts, intensifying competition for jobs, housing, water, and other basic services, stretching local coping capacities beyond their limits. Access to health care, clean water, and education has sharply declined, particularly in rural settlements, and for women and girls.
Nine out of ten Afghan households report resorting to negative coping strategies, including reducing meals, selling assets and relying on loans. Debt is widespread across all population groups, from 88% of returnee households, to 81% of host community households.
Recent devastating earthquakes in Nangarhar, Kunar, and Samangan provinces, flash floods, and drought this year have taken a heavy toll on lives and livelihoods. These disasters have caused extensive damage to homes and infrastructure, further deepening vulnerabilities among both displaced and host populations alike. Women-headed households are among the hardest hit.
"Afghanistan's returnee and host communities are under immense strain", Kanni Wignaraja, UN Assistant Secretary-General and UNDP Regional Director for Asia and the Pacific said. "In some provinces one in four households depend on women as the main breadwinner, so when women are prevented from working, families, communities, the country lose out. I am especially alarmed by restrictions on women staff working on humanitarian and recovery operations. Cutting women out of the frontline teams means cutting off vital services for those who need them most, including returnees and victims of natural disasters".
The report points out specific investments are making a difference in the areas of return. UNDP and partners are implementing area-based recovery programmes across eastern, northern, and central regions, improving access to energy, health, water, and jobs for both returnees and host communities. These efforts build on UNDP's broader humanitarian-development-peace nexus approach, working with UNHCR, IOM, and UN-Habitat under the Durable Solutions Working Group.
"Area-based recovery works," added Stephen Rodriques, UNDP Resident Representative in Afghanistan. "By linking income opportunities, basic services, housing, and social cohesion, it is possible to ease pressure on high-return districts and reduce the risk of secondary displacement."
