United Nations Strategic Framework for Afghanistan

14 I UNITED NATIONS STRATEGIC FRAMEWORK FOR AFGHANISTAN livelihoods. Human rights defenders face significant risks, including arbitrary arrests, incommunicado detention, and threats and intimidation. 16 - - Persons with disabilities are often marginalized and stigmatized resulting in low levels of participation in education and employment and with many receiving little or no social security or specialized support. The number of people who use drugs has significantly increased including among children, youth, and women · leaving more people vulnerable to drug use disorders. 17 Afghanistan also has the third highest rate of increase in new HIV infections among Asia Pacific countries (since 2010), with people living with and affected by HIV - including sexual and gender minorities, people who use drugs, and intimate partners of those with HIV - being amongst the most marginalized and stigmatized.18 2.4 Opportunities for Achieving the 2030 Agenda While the challenges facing Afghanistan prior to August 2021 were chronic, systemic, and severe, the situation following the Taliban takeover has deteriorated significantly. The change in context also has significant implications for how the international community can and should engage in the country to support the ever-increasing needs of the Afghan people, which require the exploration of alternative partnership arrangements and implementation modalities. The primary focus of the UN and the broader international community will be to head-off a further worsening of the humanitarian situation by providing lifesaving assistance, ensuring people's basic human needs are met, and safeguarding human rights. However, this alone is not a sustainable solution. Interventions will need to be designed that stop people from falling further behind by tackling the underlying causes of their vulnerabilities, as well as the systemic causes of crisis and fragility that underpin them. While the nature and scope of potential areas of support have become more limited, opportunities exist to strengthen the resilience of vulnerable Afghans through provision of sustained access to essential services and economic opportunities, enhanced social cohesion, reduced conflict risks, and mitigation of a further erosion of human rights, particularly those of women and children. However, it must be realized that the ability of national and international partners to explore these opportunities will be significantly determined by factors on the ground in what is a highly fluid context, and it will require agility to adapt to situational changes, be they positive or negative. As such, this UN Strategic Framework has been developed in close collaboration with a wide range of partners to be ambitious but realistic and pragmatic in approach, targeted but flexible, and effectively coordinated across stakeholders, particularly across the nexus, to ensure maximum impact and sustainability. 16 OCHA (2020). Humanitarian Needs Overview 2021. 17 UNODC (2021). Drug Situation in Afghanistan 2021: Latest findings and emerging threats. 18 UNAIDS (2023). UNAIDS Data 2022.

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