97% Of Afghans May Plunge Into Poverty By Mid-2022, Warns UN

Kabul: The prediction for Afghanistan gets bleaker by the day.

Under Taliban rule following withdrawal of US troops after 20 years, the war-torn country is likely to face acute poverty soon.

According to a rapid appraisal released by United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) on Friday, as much as 97% of Afghanistan’s population could sink below the poverty line unless a response to the country’s political and economic crises is urgently launched.

The study analysed four potential scenarios of escalating intensity and isolation, and indicated that real GDP could contract by 13.2%. That would result in an increase in poverty rate of up to 25 percentage points.

“We are facing a full-on development collapse on top of humanitarian and economic crises. Half of the population is already in need of humanitarian support. This analysis suggests that we are on course for rapid, catastrophic deterioration in the lives of Afghanistan’s most vulnerable people,” said Kanni Wignaraja, UN Assistant Secretary-General and UNDP Director of the Regional Bureau for Asia and the Pacific.

The country, already reeling under a prolonged drought and the effects of COVID-19 pandemic, now has to contend with the current political transition which will lead to frozen foreign reserves, collapsing public finances, increasing pressure on banking system and, most importantly, rising poverty.

UNDP has proposed a package of interventions designed to help improve immediate living conditions of the most vulnerable people and communities, prioritizing the safeguarding of women and girls’ rights.

The package – which focuses on essential services, local livelihoods, basic income and small infrastructure – aims to support about 9 million vulnerable people through a 24-month community development programme.

The most vulnerable will benefit from cash-for-work schemes, grants for small and medium enterprises, especially women-run businesses. Children, people with disability and elderly citizens will receive temporary basic income through monthly cash transfers.