The United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) has issued an urgent call highlighting the essential need to provide adequate shelter, infrastructure repair, and basic public services to hundreds of thousands of Afghan families returning from neighboring countries.
In a public statement released on Wednesday, October 21 [29 Mizan], the UN agency stressed that sustainable integration and dignified survival for returning populations depend heavily on immediate interventions targeting housing security, clean water, sanitation, and essential winterization support.
Compounding Demands on Informal Urban Centers
The influx of returnees from regional host nations has placed extraordinary strain on local communities, particularly across urban and peri-urban informal settlements:
- Severe Housing Deficits: Millions of forced and voluntary returnees lack access to durable housing, forcing families into overcrowded temporary quarters or makeshift tents in informal urban belts across provinces like Kabul, Nangarhar, and Kunduz.
- Infra-Structure and Basic Service Gaps: Returnee-heavy communities face acute shortages of clean drinking water, functional sanitation facilities, heating supplies, and accessible primary healthcare units.
- Imminent Winter Risks: UN-Habitat’s warning aligns with recent projections from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), which warned that food insecurity and exposure risks will surge as harsh winter weather sets in.
Integrated Interventions and Long-Term Integration
To prevent widespread displacement crises from spiraling into total humanitarian collapse, UN-Habitat and humanitarian partners have initiated localized shelter repair and community-building programs across key northern and eastern provinces. However, international agencies maintain that donor commitments must be scaled up significantly to deliver durable shelter solutions, secure housing rights, and establish local economic opportunities for returning families attempting to rebuild their lives.