In this picture taken on October 15, 2021 an Afghan family stands by the door of their mud brick home in the village Haji Rashid Khan, in Bala Murghab district in Badghis province. Drought stalks the parched fields around the remote Afghan district of Bala Murghab, where climate change is proving a deadlier foe than the country's recent conflicts. (PHOTO / AFP)

KABUL - About 79 percent of Afghanistan's population lacks access to potable water, according to a report from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Afghanistan.

The report released Friday pointed out that the severe drought conditions, economic instability, and the devastating effects of prolonged conflicts have significantly reduced Afghanistan's water infrastructure.

The crisis disproportionately affects female-headed households, which face additional barriers in accessing public water facilities, exacerbating their vulnerability, it added.

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The landlocked Afghanistan is grappling with an exacerbated drought. The Afghan caretaker government has been building small dams, water supply networks, and water canals across the country to improve and store groundwater.