UN: Afghanistan Floods Worsen Shelter Crisis for 4.2 Million People

Recent floods in Afghanistan have significantly worsened the country’s already severe shelter crisis, leaving 4.2 million people in urgent need of emergency housing support, the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) reported on Wednesday.

The agency called for immediate international action, stressing that safe housing is a fundamental human need. Repeated climate-related disasters including floods, droughts, and earthquakes continue to destroy fragile homes, deepening humanitarian vulnerability across the nation.

In a statement underscoring the gravity of the crisis, UN-Habitat said: “Every family deserves a safe place to live.” The remark highlights the mounting pressure on communities already struggling with poverty, displacement, and weak infrastructure.

According to Taliban authorities, the latest wave of floods and heavy rains which have affected multiple provinces over the past two weeks completely destroyed more than 958 homes and partially damaged an additional 4,155 others.

Aid groups warn that the loss of shelter is compounding broader risks, including displacement, the spread of waterborne diseases, and lack of access to basic services such as clean water, health care, and sanitation.

Even before the recent floods, Afghanistan faced one of the region’s most acute housing emergencies. Millions of returnees, internally displaced families, and urban poor live in fragile or informal shelters that are highly exposed to climate shocks.

UN-Habitat notes that decades of armed conflict, chronic underinvestment, rapid and unplanned urbanization, and worsening climate impacts have left much of the country dangerously unprepared for recurring disasters.

The latest floods have once again exposed Afghanistan’s extreme housing vulnerability. Without rapid and well-coordinated support, aid agencies warn, hundreds of thousands more families could be left without safe shelter potentially triggering a broader humanitarian catastrophe.

 

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