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Ten years of Afghan economic growth, reversed in just 12 months: UNDP
A year on from the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan takeover in Kabul, Afghanistan is gripped by “cascading crises”, including a crippled economy that humanitarian aid alone cannot address, according to a new report from the UN Development Programme (UNDP) on Wednesday.
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has recently said that the Afghan economy has suffered a catastrophic fall in the last year, projecting that up to 97 percent of the population may be at risk of sinking below the poverty line by next year, unless a response to the country’s political and economic crises is urgently launched.
Kanni Wignaraja, the director of UNDP for Asia-Pacific said Wednesday that in less than a year, Afghanistan’s 10-year economic gains have been lost.
UNDP report said that the already-declining regular economy, as opposed to the black market, lost nearly $5 billion after August 2021 and is reversing “in 12 months what had taken 10 years to accumulate.”
Wignaraja has added that one in five children is at risk of acute malnutrition, especially in southern Afghanistan.
However, IEA’s Ministry of Economy said that if the world wanted Afghanistan to get out of the bad economic situation, it should cooperate with Afghanistan in establishing economic infrastructure.
Based on the UN report, by the middle of 2022 in Afghanistan, nearly 700,000 jobs, which were mostly occupied by women, have vanished.
“Nearly 700,000 jobs have vanished, said UNDP, further threatening a population reeling from impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, conflict, drought, and war in Ukraine.”
“The Afghan people have been relentlessly subjected to extremely difficult circumstances. They have survived numerous challenges in the last 40 years and shown enormous resilience”, the report added.
Although the Islamic Emirate has not reacted to this UN report so far, it had previously called the statistics provided by international relief organizations far from reality.
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UNDP, UN Women launch financing initiative for Afghan women entrepreneurs
UN Women Special Representative Susan Ferguson said expanding women’s access to finance was critical to enabling women-led businesses to grow.
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and UN Women have launched a joint initiative to expand access to finance and business support for Afghan women entrepreneurs.
The Afghanistan Women’s Fund for Resilient Enterprises (AWFRE) will provide Sharia-compliant, collateral-free financing alongside financial and digital literacy training, mentoring, business planning and support to access markets.
An initial joint investment of $1.7 million will support about 1,500 women entrepreneurs over the next year, indirectly benefiting more than 14,000 people through stronger businesses, household incomes and economic activity.
The initiative comes amid a significant financing gap for Afghan women entrepreneurs. Fewer than 7% of women in Afghanistan have a bank account or use mobile money services, leaving many women-led businesses dependent on personal savings, loans from family and friends, or the sale of personal assets.
More Afghan women are turning to entrepreneurship to earn income and support their families. More than 10,000 Afghan women now hold business licences, around ten times the number five years ago, while the Afghanistan Chamber of Commerce estimates another 120,000 are trading without licences.
“The challenge for Afghan women entrepreneurs is not a lack of enterprise, but limited access to the finance, skills and networks they need to grow,” said Turhan Saleh, UNDP Resident Representative in Afghanistan.
UN Women Special Representative Susan Ferguson said expanding women’s access to finance was critical to enabling women-led businesses to grow.
“Afghan women are finding ways to build businesses, despite the many obstacles they face,” Ferguson said. “Expanding access to finance can help women entrepreneurs turn their ideas and skills into stronger businesses, more jobs and greater economic security for their families and communities.”
UNDP and UN Women are seeking an additional $10 million to expand the programme, which would allow another 10,000 women entrepreneurs to access financing and business support and indirectly benefit an estimated 70,000 people.
The initiative aims to help women entrepreneurs expand their businesses, access new markets and develop more sustainable sources of income.
Zalmay Khalilzad, the former US special representative for Afghanistan, has questioned Pakistan’s commitment to the welfare of the Afghan people, citing Islamabad’s policies over the past three decades.
Khalilzad said in a post on X that Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif advocated for the rights of Afghan women during his speech at the UN General Assembly on Friday.
Sharif said: “Fundamental rights of the Afghan people — especially women and girls — must be respected.”
Responding to the remarks, Khalilzad said Pakistan’s policies over the past 30 years raise questions about Sharif’s commitment to Afghan welfare.
He cited Pakistan’s support for militant groups against US forces and what he described as the poor treatment of Afghan refugees as examples.
Khalilzad also said Afghanistan and Pakistan need and should have much better relations, adding that “a reset is necessary.”
India’s Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri met with the UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Afghanistan, Rabab Fatima, on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly.
Indian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said in a post on X that Misri underscored the need to keep addressing the humanitarian needs of the Afghan people as a priority.
Misri also appreciated the role of the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) and reaffirmed India’s continued cooperation with the United Nations on Afghanistan.
The meeting comes as Afghanistan continues to face humanitarian and economic challenges, with international agencies warning of significant needs among the Afghan population.
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