Three years after the Taliban took power, 48 percent of Afghanistan’s population lives below the poverty line, 12.4 percent are “food insecure” and 23.7 million people are dependent on foreign aid, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said on Tuesday.
United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said Poverty has steadily worsened under the Taliban, and Afghans need more humanitarian aid to prevent hunger and disease.
The agency warned that only about 25 percent of the $30 billion it has requested from donors for Afghanistan has actually been funded.
A group of 10 international aid organizations, including CARE International, the International Rescue Committee (IRC) and Save the Children International, statement He warned on Tuesday that Afghanistan risks becoming a “forgotten crisis”.
“Three years after regime change, millions of Afghans continue to suffer from the world’s largest and most complex humanitarian crisis. Afghans who are highly dependent on humanitarian assistance remain trapped in a vicious cycle of poverty, displacement and despair,” the statement warned.
“Afghanistan is experiencing one shock after another: an ongoing economic crisis, the legacy of decades of conflict, the effects of climate change and a gender crisis are devastating the country,” the statement said, referring to the same funding shortfalls cited by OCHA.
The coalition of humanitarian groups tacitly acknowledged that Afghanistan’s political situation makes it difficult to attract foreign aid and deliver it even when funds are available, and said humanitarian aid alone cannot solve the “ongoing crisis.”
“Afghanistan is in desperate need of long-term development assistance to address the root causes of poverty. Diplomatic engagement is essential to create an environment in Afghanistan that supports expanded international aid efforts, including development projects alongside emergency assistance,” the statement said.
“The isolationist approach currently taken by most donors is not supporting lasting solutions to the challenges facing the Afghan people, particularly children, women, ethnic minorities and other marginalized groups,” they complained.
It is not “isolationism” that makes foreign donors balk when billions of dollars are requested to feed, clothe and provide medical care to a population held captive by a violent extremist regime that prefers to squander its wealth on weapons and tools of repression.
Taliban Assert They are not willing to compromise even on the most brutal policies in the name of improving “engagement” with the outside world. No one has offered a plausible strategy for stopping the Taliban’s advance. Scoop They do not use large amounts of aid for their own nefarious purposes, and even if they did, every million dollars spent by foreigners to feed the Taliban’s people would free up $1 million for the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan to buy bullets and bombs.
