During the UN Security Council meeting on the situation in Afghanistan on Monday, June 8, the officials said that stability masks a deep-seated crisis, while the ruling authorities have consolidated their control and face no major political challenges.

“Afghanistan remains one of the world’s largest and most complex humanitarian crises,” Edem Wosornu of OCHA said, adding that nearly half the country needs help. 

The situation has been made worse by fighting along the Afghanistan–Pakistan border, which displaced over 100,000 people earlier this year.

Hunger is reaching critical levels.

Wosornu also showed that 4.7 million people are facing "severe food insecurity" a 50 percent increase compared to last year, while 3.7 million children are suffering from "acute malnutrition."

In some cases, the situation is so terrible that families are making the "desperate decisions" including to sell their daughters just to survive.

UN also noted that 21.9 million people in Afghanistan expected to require assistance by 2026.

Georgette Gagnon, the UN’s Deputy Special Representative currently leading the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNMA), reported on the "severe and growing restrictions" that are damaging the future of the country.

Currently, an estimated 3.8 million girls between the ages of 7 and 18 are out of school. Every year, approximately 250,000 more girls are permanently blocked from "secondary education pathways," a trend Gagnon says is creating a "lost generation.

"These restrictions are not just a social issue; they have weakened the economy and hurt essential sectors like health and education,” stated UN.

The UN continues to call for the ruling authorities to reverse these bans, including the rule that prevents female UN staff from entering their own offices.

Metra Mehran, founder of the Afghanistan Justice Archive, told the Council that the Taliban has created a system of "institutionalised gender oppression."

Since taking power in 2021, the authorities have issued over 230 decrees that strip women of their rights to work, move freely, and participate in public life.

Mehran highlighted a new Criminal Procedure Code that she says effectively allows “men effectively own their wives " and legalizes violence against women.

She warned that women who resist these rules face arrest and intimidation.

In a final plea to the Council, Mehran said that “this is not only our fight. It is a test of our global system. A test of multilateralism. And a test of whether the principles recited in chambers like this truly mean anything in practice.” 

Despite these challenges, Gagnon emphasized that "principled and pragmatic engagement" and constant dialogue remain the only way to make even incremental progress.