ABOUT THE AFGHANISTAN WATER CRISIS

The combination of droughts, displacement, food scarcity, and economic collapse are progressively getting worse in Afghanistan, pushing the population into catastrophic hunger. This has resulted in weakening the country’s agricultural sector and water infrastructure which contributes to 20 to 50 percent of the country's GDP. Putting food and water on the table has become harder than it ever was before. 

According to the United Nations, approximately 60% of the population, 24 million people in Afghanistan, suffer from acute hunger and about 80% of the entire country suffers from the worst drought in decades. The water crisis has not only left the people dehydrated, but it has ruined the income for farming families as well as reduced crops.

Over 700,000 people have been displaced from their villages and homes this year alone, adding to the 3.5 million displaced from all the war that has taken place. Without clean sanitary water, disease and infections begin to spread among the population, especially among children. About 25% of deaths among children under 5 are directly attributed to contaminated water. Many of these deaths are caused by diarrhea, which then leads to malnourishment and results in 67% of children aged 6 months to 5 years weigh less than they should. Since the people have no access to sanitation facilities, open defecation has occurred for about 20% of the population from the rivers they drink out of. The rest of the population makes use of traditional latrines, but since the latrines cannot dispose of the waste or isolate excrement from human contact, infections continue to occur. On top of this, most health facilities within the country are closed due to foreign financing no longer existing. Most Afghans cannot receive any type of medical treatment after becoming sick. The United Nations has begun to form plans in order to pay salaries for medical workers, but few have received compensation.

The basic human rights and living conditions that the U.N. considers to be necessary in a human being’s life seldomly exists within Afghanistan. From the moment the Soviet Union decided to invade Afghanistan in 1979, the country took a turn for the worse. Ever since this event, nations like the United States found it necessary to invade Afghanistan for “the greater good” and to “do good” for the unfortunate people. Yet, all of the infrastructure damage, water crisis, and food scarcity circles back to the main contributor of it all, unnecessary invasion and war. While the world was busy watching foreign nations “help” Afghanistan by targeting the Taliban and Al Qaeda, the locals were the ones who had to go through all the killing, suffering, and fear. They were the ones who had to watch their homeland get ruined each day, month and year. Today, the social, political, and environmental ramifications of these events exacerbate Afghanistan's water crisis.

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Due to the humanitarian crisis currently unfolding, the goal of this platform is to share research and narratives that shed light on this situation. We hope the information shared here emphasizes the importance contextualizing the crisis and empowers viewer to learn more.

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