Georgette Gagnon, UN Deputy Special Representative who currently heads the UN mission, UNAMA, reflected on recent visits across the country and said communities repeatedly described growing difficulties.
Ms. Gagnon noted that the country’s de facto authorities have consolidated territorial and administrative control and They currently face “no significant armed or political challenges,” but they warned that this apparent stability masks deeper risks..
“What exists is increasing control by de facto authorities with no clear end result,” he told the council.
He pointed to demographic and economic pressures as major concerns and noted that Nearly 5.9 million Afghans have returned since 2023 and up to 2.8 million more could return this year. despite limited opportunities and tense communities.
Afghanistan remains one of the world’s largest humanitarian crises: 21.9 million people will need assistance in 2026.
Women and girls in difficulties
The senior official warned of “severe and increasing restrictions” with long-term consequences when it comes to women and girls, noting that It is estimated that 3.8 million girls between 7 and 18 years old do not go to school..
“Every year, approximately 250,000 more girls are permanently excluded from secondary education, creating a lost generation of talent and potential”he said, adding that the increasing restrictions have damaged Afghanistan’s economy and weakened sectors such as health and education.
She also renewed calls for authorities to revoke restrictions affecting women, including the continued exclusion of Afghan female staff from UN facilities.
Edem Wosornu (on screen), director of the Crisis Response Division of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, addresses the UN Security Council meeting on the situation in Afghanistan.
“Almost half the country needs help”
Edem Wosornu, Director of OCHA’s Crisis Response Division, warned that humanitarian conditions continue to deteriorate under the combined pressures of conflict, hunger, climate crises and lack of funding.
“Afghanistan remains one of the largest and most complex humanitarian crises in the world,” he said. “Almost half the country needs help.”
It reported that renewed fighting along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border earlier this year displaced more than 100,000 people and left vulnerable communities without assistance for weeks.
“Hunger increases in Afghanistan” Wosornu said, noting that 4.7 million people now face severe food insecurity, 50 percent more than at the same time last year, while 3.7 million children are suffering from acute malnutrition.
He described reports of some families making desperate decisions to survive, including selling his own daughterswhile restrictions imposed on women continue to undermine humanitarian operations.
Metra Mehran, founder of the Afghanistan Justice Archive, addresses the UN Security Council meeting on the situation in Afghanistan.
Institutionalized oppression
Civil society representative Metra Mehran, founder of the Afghanistan Justice Archive, described what she called a system of institutionalized gender oppression in Afghanistan.
“Since August 2021, the Taliban has issued more than 230 decrees“she said, arguing that authorities have systematically stripped women and girls of their basic rights, including education, employment, movement and participation in public life.”The Taliban have even criminalized women’s voices and faces..”
She highlighted a recently enacted Code of Criminal Procedure that she said formalizes discrimination and legalizes violence against women.
“Men effectively own their wives,” Ms. Mehran told the Council, warning that women who resist restrictions have faced arrest, violence and intimidation.
He also warned that states and international institutions have legal obligations under international law to act now.
“This is not only our fight“, he said in conclusion. “It is a test of our global system. A test of multilateralism. And a test of whether the principles recited in rooms like this really mean anything in practice.”
UNAMA’s Gagnon emphasized that continued commitment remains necessary despite limited progress. “Continuous and constant dialogue is essential, along with pragmatic and principled commitment.even when progress towards the final state is incremental,” he said.