Afghanistan water crisis affects women

Afghan women face renewed water hardships under Taliban rule

In the dust‑laden valleys of Bamiyan province, women transport yellow plastic jerry cans on donkeys each day to fetch scarce water. The 29‑person village of Qavriyak struggles to keep children and elders afloat, yet they have just enough to drink, let alone wash clothes or wash hands.

Water scarcity amplifies women’s burdens

• Masooma Darweshi (26) says “No proper toilets or daily showers.”
• The community depends on women for cooking, cleaning dishes, and caring for children.
• Climate change exacerbates water shortages, placing women and girls at the highest risk.

Solidarites International brings hope

Shukria Attaye, a village schoolteacher, shares how non‑governmental organisation Solidarites International installed toilets and a clean water source. Before the project, women carried gallon‑big loads, causing back pain while traveling 30 minutes each way to fetch water or wash clothes.

Public health worsens due to limited hygiene knowledge

• UNICEF reports that 31 % of Afghans lack basic drinking water and 42 % lack basic hygiene services, with girls and women bearing the brunt.
• Ata (2024) disputes the figures but acknowledges the Taliban ministry’s efforts to improve water management.
• Aziza Shuja highlights that cure requires sustained, long‑term training, noting that many women previously had no knowledge of proper hygiene. She trained hundreds of women in gynaecology and hygiene across Bamiyan.

Women’s health deteriorates under displacement and limited healthcare

Darweshi explains that the nearest clinic lies far away and the journey is treacherous, often taken by donkey or motorcycle. She reports that menstrual pain may stem from infections linked to inadequate water sanitation. Disposable sanitary pads remain beyond the reach of impoverished families, who also have insufficient water this year to grow crops.

Climate crisis compounds the crisis

• Afghanistan faces one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises, intensified by decade‑long war.
• In neighbouring Maidan Wardak, Gol Babo and her daughter have had to strip dirty clothes into strips for menstruation after a flash flood clogged Chinzai village’s limited water source.
• Gol Babo states, “Women have more problems than men, of course. There is only enough water for drinking… everything is hanging outside dirty; there is no water to clean anything.”

Overall, the combination of Taliban restrictions, chronic water shortages, rising climate risks, and inadequate healthcare creates a climate of desperate, heightened risk for Afghan women and girls, whose daily lives are now more fragile than ever.