UN Warns of Maternal Health Crisis in Afghanistan Amid Funding Cuts and Taliban Education Restrictions

United Nations agencies have issued coordinated statements marking the International Day of the Midwife, highlighting a severe maternal health crisis in Afghanistan and calling for urgent investment in healthcare workers. According to the World Health Organization, the country continues to record approximately one maternal death every hour, with a mortality rate of 521 per 100,000 live births.

The United Nations Population Fund emphasized that supporting more than one million midwives is the most effective strategy to expand prenatal, safe childbirth, and postnatal care. However, UN officials warned that recent cuts to international funding have forced hundreds of health facilities to close, leaving roughly 6.3 million people without access to essential medical services.

UN agencies also raised concerns over restrictions imposed by the Taliban on women’s education and employment. Bans preventing girls from attending health institutes threaten to disrupt the future pipeline of female health workers. The United Nations Children’s Fund projected that current policies could result in the loss of approximately 5,000 health workers and 20,000 teachers by 2030.

Despite improvements in the healthcare sector since the early 2000s, UN representatives stressed that sustained international support is necessary to prevent further deterioration of maternal and child health outcomes. Agencies are currently working with the Islamic Development Bank and local partners to expand specialized care and train health workers, but officials cautioned that progress could be reversed without continued funding and policy adjustments.