Responding to Afghanistan’s Humanitarian Crisis: The Potential Role of Digital Payments

Afghanistan’s humanitarian crisis continues to worsen, with the World Food Programme (WFP) reporting that 22.8 million people – more than half the country’s population – are projected to be acutely food insecure in 2022, including 8.7 million at risk of famine-like conditions. Even before the Taliban took over the country on August 15, 2021, Afghanistan’s economy was buckling under the weight of the country’s worst drought in decades, a deteriorating security situation, and the COVID-19 pandemic.

This brief discusses:

• How increased use of digital payments in Afghanistan could help address the immediate financial and humanitarian crises by responding to AML/CFT concerns
• The obstacles to scaling digital payments in Afghanistan
• What the international/development community can do to support greater use of digital payments in the country