In pictures: Ordinary Afghans struggle to survive

More than 4.5m Afghans have returned home since a UN voluntary repatriation programme began in 2002. But unemployment and insecurity have slowed down repatriation from Pakistan and Iran where an estimated 4m Afghans still live.

Farmala Khan recently returned to his home village in the east after 25 years in exile. "My house was destroyed, and I had to sleep under a tree with my family," he says. Farmala's luck changed when he was helped by an aid organisation to start a weaving business.