Afghanistan Peace CampaignAccording to a UNDP report, the percentage of women needing health services rose from 82% in 2022 to 93% in 2024.
Mikio Izawa, Japan’s chargé d’affaires in Kabul, said at a UNDP-organized event that the Doha process and the formation of working groups on the private sector and drug control serve as key platforms for building trust between the Islamic Emirate and the international community.
“In this connection, ongoing efforts and the Doha process, more concretely, private sector working group and counter-narcotics working group are key platforms for confidence building between the DFA and the international community and addressing the critical needs of Afghan people,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Deputy Political Chief of UNAMA and the European Union’s Chargé d’Affaires in Kabul voiced concern over the ongoing restrictions on women and girls in Afghanistan.
Veronika Bošković-Pohar, the EU’s chargé d’affaires in Afghanistan, said: “We are here to support Afghan people. And for us, one priority is women empowerment, private sector, youth as well as human capital. And for that, as I said, we need conducive policy, we need predictability.”
Georgette Gagnon as the Deputy Special Representative (Political) for Afghanistan also emphasized: “The urgent need for the lifting of restrictions on women and girls. Women are not only facing socio economic marginalization and serious challenges to participate in the formal economy, but women headed households are also far more likely to experience subsistence insecurity.”
At the same meeting, the United Nations Development Programme reported that Afghanistan experienced a modest economic growth of 2.7% in 2023 and 2024, the first such growth since 2019. However, the growth remains fragile.
Stephen Rodriques, UNDP’s representative in Afghanistan, noted: “Our data show that in 2024, 75% of the Afghan population were subsistence insecure. And that’s up 6 percentage points from 2023. This means 75% of the population are living at a subsistence level.”
According to a UNDP report, the percentage of women needing health services rose from 82% in 2022 to 93% in 2024.
The report also warned that continued restrictions on women could cost Afghanistan nearly $920 million in economic losses between 2024 and 2026.