Afghanistan’s economy has ‘basically collapsed’: UN

The Afghan economy and especially regions affected by the devastating earthquakes in October last year, “are still hurting”, the UN Development Programme (UNDP) said on Thursday, as restrictions on women and girls continue to thwart basic rights and economic progress. Kanni Wignaraja, Director of UNDP’s Regional Bureau for Asia and the Pacific, who recently visited the country, told reporters in New York that 69 per cent of Afghans are “subsistence insecure”, meaning they do not have enough basic resources.