More than 500,000 Afghans displaced by climate disasters by 2024: IOM March 1st, 2025A

Taliban security personnel stand near a river after flash floods in the Daman district of Kandahar province on February 26, 2025. (AFP)

By AFP - Agence France Presse

More than 500,000 Afghans displaced by climate disasters by 2024: IOM

More than half a million people in Afghanistan were displaced due to climate disasters in 2024, the International Organization for Migration said in a country report published on Tuesday.

“Almost 9 million individuals have been affected by climatic hazards in the past 12 months, with more than 500,000 displaced by floods, droughts and other disasters,” according to the IOM report.

“Approximately three in five of those displaced have moved elsewhere within their province of origin,” with the provinces of Herat and Farah, in the west of the country, among the worst hit, the report said.

This week, 39 people died due to floods, celebrations, and storms in southwestern Afghanistan, mainly in Farah, according to local authorities.

Afghanistan is among the poorest countries in the world after decades of war and is ranked as the sixth most vulnerable to climate change, which is spurring extreme weather conditions.

Droughts, floods, land degradation, and declining agricultural productivity are the main threats, according to the United Nations.

Flash floods last May killed hundreds of people and inundated areas of farmland in Afghanistan, where 80% of people depend on agriculture to survive.

“More than 11 million people in Afghanistan are at high risk of severe impacts from climate-induced disasters in the future,” said the IOM.

The UN agency estimates that “climate-sensitive livelihoods, such as subsistence agriculture, account for 73% of jobs in Afghanistan”.

It added that “92% of villages have limited access to emergency services” and “96% lack resources for crucial measures such as early warning systems and search and rescue”.

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