The ongoing humanitarian response to the devastating Afghanistan earthquake disaster continued on Friday, although essential services have been cut for operational reasons following reinforced Taliban restrictions on women working with the UN, the global body said.

“All of us at the United Nations are suffering from a reinforcement of the ban on females working with us…We are simply unable to operate without females,” said Arafat Jamal, UN refugee agency (UNHCR) Representative to Afghanistan, a day after agencies warned that the de facto authorities’ measures have impacted life-saving assistance for hundreds of thousands of people.

Last Sunday, de facto Afghan security forces prevented national female staff members and contractors of the UN from entering the global body’s compounds in Kabul, the UN Mission in the country, UNAMA, said in a statement on Thursday.

And in light of the restrictions, on Tuesday, UNHCR temporarily closed its cash and support centres for vulnerable Afghans, both at the border and in areas where so many people have been returning from Iran, Pakistan and elsewhere since the start of the year.

The registration process involves providing biometric data, along with screening and interviews – work that would be “entirely impossible without Afghan female workers”, the UNHCR official stressed, noting that more than one in two returnees are women.

“This was an operational decision,” Mr. Jamal continued. “It is not a decision taken to punish anyone or to make a statement, but simply it demonstrates that we cannot work without female workers in certain circumstances.”

Since the start of the year, some 2.6 million Afghans have returned from neighbouring countries – “many not by choice”, UNHCR said.

Mr. Jamal noted that the pace of returns continues to surge, with nearly 100,000 people crossing back from Pakistan in the first week of September alone, “stretching our capacities and the capacities of this country to the limit”.

Echoing those concerns, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) warned that Afghanistan is still reeling from the 6.0 magintude earthquake that struck Kunar and Nangarhar provinces on 31 August, followed by multiple severe aftershocks.

At least 1,172 children have died, more than half the entire death toll, said UNICEF Country Representative in Afghanistan, Dr. Tajudeen Oyewale.

Briefing journalists in Geneva via videolink, Dr Oyewale described meeting young victims of the disaster in Machkandol in Nangahar, three girls and a young boy rescued from the emergency. “For the girls it was even more sobering; they were lost; they have lost their families, their homes have been destroyed,” he said. “The family livestock have died. And for these young girls and this young boy, the future is completely bleak.”

The provinces impacted by the earthquake are mountainous and extremely remote, the UNICEF official continued. “It is filled with steep terrain, difficult navigation…it took us about three and a half hours’ drive, 40 minutes of which was on paved road and the rest was through rough mountain dirt roads, a lot of turns with jammed oncoming vehicles and especially with falling rocks on the road.”

Humanitarians warn that the earthquake has compounded Afghanistan’s existing acute problems.

In total, the crisis has claimed more than 2,164 lives, at least 3,428 people have been injured and at least 6,700 homes have either been destroyed or badly damaged.

“Behind these numbers are children left standing alone in the rubble and families torn apart in the blink of an eye… UNICEF is literally going the extra mile and doing whatever it takes to reach these children and families with the support they need,” Dr Oyewale insisted.

ends

STORY: Afghanistan update UNICEF UNHCR

TRT: 3’38”

SOURCE: UNTV CH

RESTRICTIONS: NONE

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH/ NATS

ASPECT RATIO: 16:9

DATELINE: 12 SEPTEMBER 2025 GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
Additional broll from UNICEF is available here, pleast credit UNICEF https://weshare.unicef.org/Share/bawot02u37aqgm24730v8ap6m1phm6iu

Speakers:

• Arafat Jamal, UNHCR Representative to Afghanistan (from Kabul)
• Tajudeen Oyewale, UNICEF Country Representative (from Kabul)

SHOTLIST

1. Exterior wide shot: Palais des Nations, flag alley.
2. Wide, podium speakers, UN Geneva Press room.
3. SOUNDBITE (English) – Arafat Jamal, UNHCR Representative to Afghanistan: “All of us at the United Nations are suffering from a reinforcement of the ban on females working with us. We are at the moment considering our response and we have taken various measures as a system.”
4. Medium, podium speakers.
5. SOUNDBITE (English) – Arafat Jamal, UNHCR Representative to Afghanistan: “We are simply unable to operate without females; for this reason on 9 of September, we took the decision to close our own encashment centres. We didn't take this lightly and we knew that it would have consequences for many returnees.”
6. Medium-wide, podium speakers, TV screens showing speakers.
7. SOUNDBITE (English) – Arafat Jamal, UNHCR Representative to Afghanistan: “These centres are essential to distribute the initial cash that people receive, to register people biometric and to provide protection, screening and interviews. This work is entirely impossible without Afghan female workers because the experience of biometrics is a very tactile one, the interviews are often confidential and 52 per cent of returnees are women.”
8. Medium-wide, journalists, participants
9. SOUNDBITE (English) – Arafat Jamal, UNHCR Representative to Afghanistan: “In the first week of September alone, nearly 100,000 people crossed back from Pakistan, stretching our capacities and the capacities of this country to the limit.”
10. Medium, journalists, participants
11. SOUNDBITE (English) – Arafat Jamal, UNHCR Representative to Afghanistan: “It is a huge step, and it is creating an enormous amount of suffering, for these people; as I said, it's operational. We did not feel that would be possible to try to separate men or possible or desirable to separate men or women and to deny women access to our services. Unfortunately, this results in nobody receiving the services right now.”
12. Medium-wide, podium speakers.
13. SOUNDBITE (English) – Dr Tajudeen Oyewale, UNICEF Country Representative (from Kabul): “In the midst of the destruction in the midst of the rubbles, the stones and the broken straws, I met with three girls and a young boy. The boy had his fingers broken due to the rescue he went through from the earthquake, but for the girls it was even more sobering; they were lost.”
14. Wide, UN Geneva Press room.
15. SOUNDBITE (English) – Dr Tajudeen Oyewale, UNICEF Country Representative (from Kabul): “They have lost their families, their homes have been destroyed. Likewise, the family livestock have died. And for these young girls and this young boy, the future is completely bleak.”
16. Medium-wide, podium speakers, TV screen showing external speaker.
17. SOUNDBITE (English) – Dr Tajudeen Oyewale, UNICEF Country Representative (from Kabul): “The terrain is very difficult to access in this mountainous area, it is filled with steep terrain, difficult navigation and for us to get to Machkandol in Nangahar, it took us about three and a half hours’ drive, 40 minutes of which was on paved road and the rest was through rough mountain dirt roads, a lot of turns with jammed oncoming vehicles and especially with falling rocks on the road.”
18. Medium, journalists, participants.
19. SOUNDBITE (English) – SOUNDBITE (English) – Arafat Jamal, UNHCR Representative to Afghanistan: “This was an operational decision. It is not a decision taken to punish anyone or to make a statement, but simply it demonstrates that we cannot work without female workers in certain circumstances.”
20. Medium, journalists.