The United Nations Office at Geneva
Multimedia Newsroom
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
- Exterior wide shot: Palais des Nations, flag alley.
- Wide, podium speakers, UN Geneva Press room.
- 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.”
- Medium, podium speakers.
- 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.”
- Medium-wide, podium speakers, TV screens showing speakers.
- 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.”
- Medium-wide, journalists, participants
- 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.”
- Medium, journalists, participants
- 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.”
- Medium-wide, podium speakers.
- 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.”
- Wide, UN Geneva Press room.
- 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.”
- Medium-wide, podium speakers, TV screen showing external speaker.
- 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.”
- Medium, journalists, participants.
- 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.”
- Medium, journalists.
Similar Stories
1
1
1
Edited News | UNICEF , IFRC
Six weeks after Nepal’s deadly flooding disaster, communities are still struggling to rebuild their lives, but they will need sustained help as global warming increases the risk of another Himalayan catastrophe, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said on Friday.
1
1
1
Edited News | WHO
In suspected Russia plague death, testing and monitoring underway – WHO
The death of a lab worker in Russia’s Siberia region has sparked concerns about plague being the cause, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday, adding that it was following the situation closely.
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk on Friday provided and oral update to the 63rd session of the Human rights Council on Ukraine.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk on Friday provided and oral update to the 63rd session of the Human rights Council on the human rights situation in Haiti.
1
1
1
Edited News | WHO
Repeated delays in bringing lifesaving medicines, prosthetics and more from Israel into Gaza risk having devastating consequences on Palestinians who urgently need them in the wartorn enclave, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday. “A truck full of non-priority supplies or the right supplies arriving too late, doesn't save lives. That's the question that actually matters," said Dr Reinhilde Van De Weerdt, WHO Representative in the OPT.
1
1
1
Edited News | WHO
DRC: Early access to care and oxygen decisive for Ebola patients’ survival – WHO
In the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), health workers fighting the country’s largest-ever Ebola outbreak are struggling to overcome critical challenges to patient care, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) warned on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA , UN
Civilians in Iran are continuing to feel the consequences of months of conflict and military escalation, the UN’s top official in the country has said, as loss of life, damage to civilian infrastructure and mounting economic pressures leave many facing continued uncertainty.
1
1
1
Edited News | WHO , UNICEF
Aid agencies in Yemen highlighted the growing hunger emergency sparked by renewed fighting between Houthi opposition forces and Government troops, after mobile health clinics reported that hundreds of children displaced by the violence are suffering from the most deadly form of malnutrition.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNHCR
Displacement on the rise in Yemen as fighting continues - UNHCR
As hostilities worsen in Yemen, more people have been fleeing their homes, further intensifying the humanitarian crisis within the region, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) warned on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | IOM , OHCHR , UNFPA , UNOG , UNHCR , WHO
Yemen’s humanitarian crisis growing by the hour amid spike in displacement
Yemenis displaced by renewed fighting have described fleeing for their lives amid shelling and gunfire, aid agencies reported on Friday, while highlighting the dramatic increase in humanitarian needs in the country and in Djibouti, where thousands have sought shelter.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
The UN Human Rights Office issued on Friday a report documenting a shocking pattern of sexual violence amid Russia’s full-scale armed attack on Ukraine.
2
1
2
Edited News , Press Conferences | WMO
As world’s water reserves change, countries must prepare for a new reality: WMO
New data showing that rivers were at their lowest level for decades last year provides further evidence that the climate crisis is real and countries must act immediately to protect themselves from the increasing threat to communities and livelihoods, the UN World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said on Thursday.
The key findings from WMO’s State of Global Water Resources 2025 report covering the hydrological cycle and extreme events in the five-year period to last year:
- 2025 was one of driest years for river discharge in 35 years
- Past seven years have seen abnorfmal river flows
- Water storage on Earth’s land surface has decreased in past decade
- Widespread glacier loss across all regions for fourth consecutive year
- Asia and Africa are regions most affected by water-related disasters
- Water data availability has improved, but gaps remain in hard-hit areas
Highlighting the long-term decline in the Earth’s freshwater storage and glacier melt, WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo explained that the planet’s water reserves used to act as a planetary “savings account” that absorbed the occasional dry season, avoiding a water crisis. “One of the central stories of the 2025 report is what is happening to that savings account? And the simple answer is that we are depleting it,” she told journalists in Geneva.
Groundwater reserves are equally stretched and have been in decline since 2014, WMO’s report states, with nearly two-thirds of monitored wells worldwide showing levels lower than the historical norm and indicating a shift “further toward deficit…not recovery”.
“At the same time, we are seeing more water-related disasters,” Ms. Saulo said, while also stressing that the currently strengthening El Niño “will increase the risk of drought in some areas, and flooding in others”.
Glaciers disappearing
In 2025, for the fourth consecutive year, every major glaciated region on Earth lost ice mass, leading to short-term hazards including floods and long-term water insecurity, according to WMO.
Responding to a question about whether the changing global water cycle might have contributed to the deadly Nepal-China flooding disaster, Ms. Saulo explained that melting ice and rock was just one factor in the chain of events that ultimately sent a massive and deadly wall of water and debris downstream on 26 August, killing at least 1,367 people.
“You asked if it could happen again? Absolutely; the problem in this region is that there’s 63,700 glaciers at the last count,” she told a Press Conference in Geneva. “Even if you’re looking with remote sensing with satellites at these glaciers, you might see some faults, you might see some slight shifting, that does not mean necessarily catastrophic collapse. So, in order to plan for this, it’s very, very difficult. But the international community is looking very hard at ways in which we can bring people together to solve some of these monitoring issues.”
Data indicates that glaciers shrank between 2023 and 2025 with cumulative losses of 1,400 gigatonnes of water – or about one third of annual fresh water needs.
Every major glacier region on Earth lost ice for the fourth consecutive year.
“All 19 glacier regions around the globe lost ice; in Central Asia, Iceland, the Russian Arctic and western Canada and the United States, it was among the three worst years on record,” said Wayne Jenkinson, WMO’s Director of Hydrology and Cryosphere.
Some regions with smaller glaciers such as Central Europe, the Caucasus, the western Canada and the United States may already have reached “peak water”, Mr. Jenkinson warned.
“After this point, the glacier gives less meltwater each year simply because there is less ice left to melt. That matters for every community downstream that relies on water during hot, dry summers,” he explained.
Narelle van der Wel, WMO’s Head of Cryosphere Monitoring, Predictions and Services, stressed that while some further glacier loss is unavoidable, the eventual scale of the decline is not predetermined.
“Some glacier loss is inevitable, but total loss of glaciers is not yet inevitable,” she said, pointing to emissions reductions as central to limiting future losses.
Preparing for moving baselines
The report does not attribute every observed change to climate change alone. WMO says pressure on water resources and natural variability also contribute.
Mr. Jenkinson said governments need to prepare for “moving baselines” as historical patterns become less reliable.
“The situation 30 years ago is not where we are today,” he said. Countries, he added, need to prepare “for those changes that have really already arrived”.
ends