Note: Single-source report; awaiting corroboration.
Afghanistan’s de facto authorities have consolidated territorial and administrative control and currently face no meaningful armed or political challenge, but this stability hides deeper demographic and economic pressures, according to Georgette Gagnon, UN Deputy Special Representative leading the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA).
Ms. Gagnon noted that nearly 5.9 million Afghans have returned since 2023, with a further estimated 2.8 million possible returns in 2026 despite limited opportunities and strained communities. The country remains one of the world’s largest humanitarian crises, with 21.9 million people requiring assistance this year.
Restrictions on women and girls are worsening, with an estimated 3.8 million girls aged seven to eighteen out of school. Around 250,000 more girls are excluded from secondary education each year, contributing to what Ms. Gagnon called a lost generation of talent and potential. She also noted that ongoing restrictions have negatively impacted Afghanistan's economy and weakened sectors such as health and education, calling for a reversal of limitations on women, including the exclusion of Afghan female UN staff from UN premises.
Edem Wosornu, Director of the Crisis Response Division at the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), described the deterioration of humanitarian conditions driven by conflict, food insecurity, climate shocks, and underfunding. She reported renewed fighting along the Afghanistan–Pakistan border earlier this year displaced over 100,000 people and isolated many vulnerable communities from assistance.
Food insecurity has risen sharply, with 4.7 million people facing severe shortages—a 50 percent increase over the previous year—and 3.7 million children suffering from acute malnutrition. Reports indicate some families have resorted to desperate coping strategies to survive.