UNFPA has been supporting the government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan to develop its national policies and strategies in alignment with the Millennium Development Goal (MDGs) the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Afghanistan National Development Strategy (ANDS), the United Nations Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF) and Afghanistan’s national priorities.

In 2016, UNFPA supported the Government of Afghanistan through the Ministry of Economy to develop its first National Population Policy (NPP). The National Population Policy (NPP) aims at inducing changes in population trends so as to bring the size, composition and distribution of population in line with the needs of sustainable development for poverty alleviation and improvement in the quality of life of all Afghans.

The NPP is also a basic policy guideline for developing other government policy documents. The Policy will be an invaluable guiding document that will address the impact of population dynamics, reproductive health and gender on poverty, the need to respond to new challenges pertaining to population and development and the changing development environment.