In Kabul, residents are voicing their despair as they grapple with pervasive poverty amid a high unemployment rate.
Najia, a 22-year-old residing in Kabul, shared her family’s struggles. With her father battling drug addiction, she and her four sisters are forced to work to support the family. Despite their efforts, they’ve been unable to pay their rent for several months, accruing debt.
“Our home is rented. We’ve been unable to pay. The landlord disputes the rent with us regularly. Initially, it was 3,000 Afghanis, but after some mediation, it dropped to 2,000 Afghanis,” Najia detailed her family’s difficulties.
Other residents are facing similar hardships, with some unable to afford meals for Iftar or Sahur during Ramadan.
Abdul Rahman, another Kabul local, said, “I work with a wheelbarrow. Our family of seven, including children, manages to earn only between 30 to 50 Afghanis daily.”
These accounts emerge as a recent U.N. report highlights that 85% of Afghanistan’s population lives below the poverty line. The United Nations Development Programme notes a significant drop in per capita income, from $512 to $332 following the Taliban’s ascendancy in the country.
