The number of poor people in Afghanistan has doubled in three years, to reach 34 million at the end of last year (85% of the total population), according to what the United Nations announced on Tuesday, warning of the deterioration of the economic situation with the measures taken by the Taliban against women.

Since the Taliban returned to power in August 2021, Afghanistan's economic output has declined by 20.7 percent, according to the latest report of the United Nations Development Program issued on Tuesday.

"This unprecedented shock has made Afghanistan among the poorest countries in the world," the report noted.

The number of Afghans living below the poverty line reached 34 million at the end of 2022, compared to 19 million in 2020, according to the report.

Afghanistan lacks recent statistical data, but the United Nations estimates the population of this country to be 40 million, which means that 85 percent of them live in poverty.
In 2022, Afghanistan's gross domestic product will decline by 3.6 percent, the study estimated.

The representative of the United Nations Development Program in Afghanistan, Abdullah Al-Dardari, said in a statement, “The regular flow of foreign aid, which amounted to $ 3.7 billion in 2022, helped to avoid the complete collapse of Afghanistan,” warning of a decrease in this aid for this year.
In 2023, Afghanistan's GDP is expected to increase by 1.3 percent if foreign aid keeps up.

However, the report warned that "the prospects for economic recovery remain weak and insufficient in the long term, especially in the event of suspension of foreign aid due to the restrictive policies of the Taliban."
The UN's 2023 appeal for Afghanistan has so far raised only 5 percent of its $4.6 billion target.

Al-Dardari warned that "if foreign aid is reduced this year, Afghanistan may fall into the abyss."

Since returning to power, the Taliban have doubled down on cracking down on women, banning them from education beyond the primary level. In December, the government also banned Afghan women from working for non-governmental organizations before the United Nations was included in the measure in April.

Many organizations have suspended their operations in the country in protest at preventing women from working for them.
The report warned that "decisions that restrict the rights of women and girls, including preventing Afghan women from working in the United Nations, directly affect economic productivity and may also affect the level of assistance."

"There will be no lasting recovery without the active participation of Afghan women in the economy and public life," said Kani Winaraja, UNDP Regional Office Director for Asia and the Pacific.

Qatar, one of the largest donors that pressured the Taliban authorities to put an end to preventing women from working, announced that it had sent the first batch of humanitarian aid to Afghanistan in 10 months, including food, medicine and books, on Tuesday.