DURABLE SOLUTIONS PROGRAMMING IN AFGHANISTAN:
Supporting (Re)-integration of Displaced People in Areas of High Return

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Afghanistan continues to face one of the world’s most complex displacement crises, driven by prolonged conflict, foreign occupation, economic contraction, climate vulnerability and large-scale returns from neighbouring countries. Since late 2023, an estimated 5.8 million Afghans have returned from Iran and Pakistan1, placing acute pressure on already fragile urban and periurban settlements where access to adequate housing, basic services, livelihoods and infrastructure remains severely constrained. At the same time, nearly half of the population
continues to require humanitarian assistance, with displacement-affected communities facing heightened exposure to poverty, food insecurity, inadequate shelter and/or services, climate-related hazards and protection risks.

In this context, durable solutions require a shift beyond short-term humanitarian delivery toward strengthening the settlements’ systems, infrastructure, livelihoods and community governance capacities that enable sustainable reintegration and resilience. Across Afghanistan, (re-)integration has a strong urban/peri-urban dimension, as returnees, internally displaced persons (IDPs) and local communities live in underserviced and climate-vulnerable settlements, underscoring the central role of cities and neighbourhoods in recovery and stabilization processes.

In alignment with the United Nations Strategic Framework for Afghanistan (UNSFA) 2023–2027 and the IASC Framework on Durable Solutions for Internally Displaced Persons (2010), UN-Habitat is implementing a portfolio of integrated, area-based durable solutions programmes in Afghanistan that translate global policy commitments into tangible, settlement-level results. In line with its global mandate, UN-Habitat provides technical leadership on urban and settlement-based approaches to durable solutions, with a particular focus on shelter/housing, HLP rights, access to basic services, spatial planning and climate resilience4.

Through it’s different programmes, including projects funded by the EU or, more recently, interagency projects funded by the Special Trust Fund for Afghanistan (STFA), UN-Habitat enables durable solutions for returnees and displacement-affected communities through neighbourhood upgrading, incremental housing and shelter support, climateresilient infrastructure, livelihoods recovery, participatory spatial planning or/and housing, land and
property (HLP) strengthening, based on the agency’s inclusive community governance mechanisms and participatory processes. In all projects, the agency’s interventions focus on improving the living conditions, strengthening re-integration capacities, and enhancing social cohesion and local resilience in areas experiencing high return and displacement pressures.

UN-Habitat’s experience over the last 20 years5 demonstrated that strengthening existing settlements and urban systems is sustainable, socially cohesive and cost-effective and benefits not only displaced but all people in a neighbourhood. UN-Habitat implements integrated approaches through comprehensive settlement upgrading, community participation and incremental investments, with visible, scalable and high-impact results that bridge humanitarian needs, recovery priorities and longer-term resilience objectives.

This paper highlights how UN-Habitat’s programming, including through funding by the EU and STFA, contributes to reintegration, climate adaptation and settlement stabilization in displacement-affected areas across Afghanistan, while protecting donor investments, laying foundations for longer-term recovery and stability, and reducing the risk of further displacement. 

The “durable solutions-specific” projects are complemented by UN-Habitat’s other interventions, that include livelihood opportunities, recovery or other projects that support people in vulnerable situations. 

This document summarises more than a decade of lessons learned from Afghanistan’s experience with land-allocation and township developments, with a particular focus on UN-Habitat’s projects and role before and after the 2021 takeover. It synthesises evidence from the EU-funded project Sustainable Human Settlements in Urban Areas to support Reintegration in Afghanistan (SHURA; 2018–2021), alongside from UN-Habitat’s broader work and research on housing and community infrastructure; recent settlement analyses using the Participatory Hazard Vulnerability and Capacity Assessment (PHVCA) in existing settlements in Eastern Afghanistan, and the MoRR township assessments (2022). The document also includes reference to projects/programmes implemented by other organisations.  Together, these findings aim to inform ongoing discussions on investments in townships for (re-)integration of unprecedented numbers of returnees in Afghanistan at this point in time.

As Afghanistan continues to receive hundreds of thousands of returnees, with 2.8 million people returning in 2025 alone, and another 2 million expected in 2026, the pressure on urban, peri-urban, and rural areas of return has significantly intensified, and there is an urgent need for practical, scalable, and community-driven solutions to support sustainable reintegration.

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Afghanistan is ranked as one of the most climate-vulnerable countries on earth, being exposed to floods, droughts, and associated diseases. i Residents of informal settlements, which number over 1,000 sites across the country, are acutely vulnerable. ii Many are located in hazard-prone urban or peri-urban areas and lack critical infrastructure and durable housing. Low-income residents are often migrants from drought-afflicted rural areas and lack the financial capacity to meet the costs of climate breakdown. As the country’s cities expand by over 3% per year – the highest rate in South Asia – growing numbers of people are located in these peripheral sites where they are exposed to more frequent and severe climate hazards. iii

Afghanistan’s climate breakdown is occurring in the midst of a gender-protection crisis, resulting in intersectional vulnerability for women. Globally, studies show that women’s role in childcare and domestic work (e.g. collecting water, preparing safe food/drink) increases during times of climate shocks. This ‘feminisation’ of the climate crisis both exacerbates gender inequalities and mediates women’s experiences of climate breakdown.v In Afghanistan’s informal settlements, the feminisation of climate crisis is amplified by protection risks, including Gender-Based Violence (GBV) and insecure land rights. The 2024 Law on the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice (PVPV) has further restricted women’s access to employment, education, and public spaces, resulting in higher risk of negative coping mechanisms in times of shock. iv

This brief provides a case study of a UN-Habitat intervention that addressed gender-based climate vulnerability in a Kabul informal settlement. It presents a DG-ECHO-funded project: its design, implementation and outcomes in Kabul’s Kart-e-Sakhi informal settlement. Following this introduction, the brief provides the results of a participatory assessment of gender and climate vulnerability in Kart-e-Sakhi. It then presents UN-Habitat’s response to these challenges with community-scale, gender-based climate adaptation planning and investments. Finally, the brief proposes a way forward to up-scale gender-based adaptation across Afghanistan’s informal settlements...

Wazir Khan Jam is a long-established settlement named after Wazir Khan, son of Shir Mohammad Khan, a respected landowner who helped shape the community. Residents, who settled permanently during the time of Zahir Shah, shifted from a nomadic lifestyle due to access to land and agriculture. The settlement now includes about 600 households: 381 local families, 150 returnees from nearby provinces, 40 IDP households, 29 returnees from Pakistan, and 33 women headed households.

Most returnees own land for housing and farming, while around 40 IDP families have land only for shelter. Agriculture is the main livelihood, with over 2,000 jeribs of irrigated and 600 jeribs of rainfed land producing wheat, sesame, corn, vegetables, fruit, and supporting small livestock. Unemployment is high, rising above 70% in winter, particularly affecting youth. Skilled workers in masonry, carpentry, and mobile repair lack tools, while women show interest in tailoring, pickle making, dairy processing, and poultry if provided training and support.
A newly established SubHealth Centre (SHC), supported by Bakhtar Development Network (BDN), offers OPD, gynecology, vaccinations, and basic care, but operates from three small rooms in a donated home and lacks adequate WASH facilities, electricity, staffing, and medical supplies.
Education access is limited to one overcrowded primary school with four teachers for about 300 students and insufficient WASH, heating, cooling, and electricity. Two madrassas serve roughly 200 learners. WASH conditions are critical: only 2 of 14 hand pumps installed under the NSP still function, forcing about 90% of households to rely on untreated canal water.
Most shelters are mud structures, with only 5% built of masonry or concrete. Around 40 households require new shelters or major repairs, and more than 30 need rehabilitation but lack financial means. The settlement is not connected to the electricity grid, roads remain unpaved and in poor condition, and Salam is the only reliable mobile network.
Overall, Wazir Khan Jam faces significant challenges in shelter, WASH, health, education, and livelihoods, yet remains socially cohesive and willing to participate in development initiatives if provided appropriate support.

Afghanistan has faced a major returnee crisis since September 2023, with more than 2.8 million people having returned to the country in 2025 only. The Integration of returnees is a major component - allowing them to advance towards durable solutions to displacement. In order to strengthen social cohesion with local communities, UN-Habitat fosters participatory and inclusive, community-driven processes. Listening to communities, including both local and displaced people, understanding their specific needs but also analysing climate-change related risks are first crucial steps for then programming for durable solutions that are tailored to the local context as well as based on people’s priorities.

UN-Habitat has implemented the “Participatory Hazard, Vulnerabilities, Capacity Assessment” (PHVCA) more many years, to ensure that people’s voices are heard and that local knowledge (on risks and opportunities) is captured. The findings of the PHVCA then informs Community Action Plans (CAPs) and allows programming and implementation of community projects that serve displaced people, returnees and local communities through an area-based approach.

Participatory processes foster integration and social cohesion, investments in community infrastructures and basic services, shelter and housing solutions and enabling livelihood opportunities are key for enabling returnees to become self-reliant and live in dignity.

Afghanistan faces complex displacement and reintegration challenges. Decades of conflict have resulted in a legacy of 6 million Internally Displaced People (IDPs), while an emerging post-conflict trend has seen a surge in cross-border returns – between 600,000 and 1.5 million people have been forcibly returned to Afghanistan since 2023. In this context, Afghanistan’s informal settlements are emerging as key sites of displacement, hosting large populations of both protracted IDPs and recent returnees.

Residents of informal settlement face severe HLP risks, including growing threats of eviction, which have limited investments in housing, critical infrastructure and services. Afghanistan’s climate breakdown exacerbates these challenges, exposing vulnerable residents to floods, droughts and associated disease. Women are disproportionately affected due to their roles in domestic labor and childcare, which increase during times of climate shocks. Strengthening HLP rights in such areas underpin investments in gender-sensitive, climate-resilient housing and community infrastructure, and are prerequisite to sustainable reintegration of displaced populations residing in informal settlements.

In response to these challenges, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) engaged UN-Habitat to implement a research and capacity-building project aimed at advancing sustainable solutions for displacement-affected communities in Afghanistan. Beginning in 2023, the Housing Land and Property (HLP) Rights of Displacement-affected Communities in Afghanistan project promotes data-driven, gender-responsive, and climate-resilient HLP programming. Focusing on six informal settlements in Jalalabad and Herat—key sites of internal displacement and hubs for returnees from Pakistan and Iran, respectively—the project addressed HLP insecurity, climate vulnerability, and gender inequality through an integrated HLP and climate resilience programmatic approach. Read more...

Decades of conflict and natural disasters have internally displaced an estimated 6.3 million Afghans, forcing many to seek refuge in urban and peri-urban areas. Since September 2023, large-scale returns from Pakistan and Iran have further intensified the protracted humanitarian crisis. More than 4 million people have been repatriated since 2023, including over 2 million in 2025 alone, often with little more than what they can carry. This continued influx is placing immense pressure on the availability of shelter and housing, essential services, and livelihoods.

Displaced populations, as well as other vulnerable groups, frequently settle in informal, unplanned, and underserviced areas with inadequate access to basic infrastructures (including WASH facilities). Many have built houses with limited resources and technical knowledge in risk-prone areas, leaving them especially vulnerable to environmental hazards such as earthquakes and floods. Without secure tenure rights (HLP rights), they are vulnerable to forced evictions, which in turn prevents long-term investment in their homes and property.
UN-Habitat has been at the forefront of addressing these shelter challenges, delivering life-saving assistance and enhancing living conditions, recognizing that adequate shelter and housing as well as HLP rights are central to the durable solutions strategy, enabling people to achieve self-reliance and resilience...

This publication provides comprehensive recommen­dations for designing safer urban streets tailored to the context of Afghan cities. It outlines essential principles that can be adapted to enhance road safety and su­pport sustainable mobility in the urban context. 

Drawing from both international best practices and a thorough analysis of local urban conditions, this publication aims to address current safety challenges while promoting safer, more accessible, and vibrant streetscapes. This publication is not a technical document for dimensioning and construction. International organisations have alre­ady elaborated these guides, such as the Urban Street Design Guide developed by NACTO. This publication is constrained to the Afghan context will serve as a resour­ce for Afghan city planners, engineers, and policymakers guiding the development of resilient and inclusive urban environments throughout Afghanistan. The recommen­dations made in this document build upon the already existing documents developed by MUHD and Sasaki (2022) for various Afghan cities. 

Afghanistan is a country of extremes: extreme beauty, an extremely strategic location, and a country with many natural resources and extremely resilient people but is still a country where people face extreme socio-economic and human rights challenges.

The Afghanistan Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan (HRNP) 2025 names climate change-induced and natural hazards, inadequate or lack of service provision, decades of conflict and geopolitical dynamics, a weak economy and the socio-political restrictions (among many others) reasons, why almost half of the population were estimated to require humanitarian assistance of any form.

UN-Habitat has been supporting the people of Afghanistan since 1992. As the agency has just launched a new strategic plan at global level for 2026-2029, this paper focuses on strategic priorities for UN-Habitat Afghanistan for 2026 and 2027. Those priorities have been defined through analysis of the agency’s (and other partners’) data and the consultations with the communities and people in Afghanistan and are in alignment with the agency’s overall mandate, the global priorities and the agency’s role in the United Nations family in Afghanistan and the agreed upon priorities at country level (UNSFA 2023-2027).

For our team at UN-Habitat Afghanistan, those priorities will be:
A.    Support the most vulnerable people by creating and enabling dignified living conditions and livelihood opportunities with a specific focus on those living in unplanned, underserviced and informal settlements 
B.    Enhance preparedness, response, recovery, and reconstruction
C.     Accelerate environmental and climate actions to save lives, livelihoods and assets

Acknowledging that women and girls, displaced people but also other marginalized groups are most at risk of being left behind in Afghanistan at the time of writing, we are committed to inclusive, participatory and gender-sensitive solutions and striving towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and based on the New Urban Agenda as a shared vision for a better and more sustainable future.
 

Afghanistan is a country of extremes: extreme beauty, an extremely strategic location,
and a country with many natural resources and extremely resilient people but is still a
country where people face extreme socio-economic and human rights challenges.

The Afghanistan Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan (HRNP) 2025 names climate
change-induced and natural hazards, inadequate or lack of service provision, decades of
conflict and geopolitical dynamics, a weak economy and the socio-political restrictions
(among many others) reasons, why almost half of the population were estimated to
require humanitarian assistance of any form.

UN-Habitat has been supporting the people of Afghanistan since 1992. As the agency
has just launched a new strategic plan at global level for 2026-2029, this paper focuses
on strategic priorities for UN-Habitat Afghanistan for 2026 and 2027. Those priorities
have been defined through analysis of the agency’s (and other partners’) data and the
consultations with the communities and people in Afghanistan and are in alignment with
the agency’s overall mandate, the global priorities and the agency’s role in the United
Nations family in Afghanistan and the agreed upon priorities at country level (UNSFA
2023-2027).

For our team at UN-Habitat Afghanistan, those priorities will be:
A.    Support the most vulnerable people by creating and enabling dignified living
conditions and livelihood opportunities with a specific focus on those living in
unplanned, underserviced and informal settlements 
B.    Enhance preparedness, response, recovery, and reconstruction
C.     Accelerate environmental and climate actions to save lives, livelihoods and assets

Acknowledging that women and girls, displaced people but also other marginalized
groups are most at risk of being left behind in Afghanistan at the time of writing, we are
committed to inclusive, participatory and gender-sensitive solutions and striving towards
achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and based on the New Urban
Agenda as a shared vision for a better and more sustainable future.