white house announced it was providing $308 million in humanitarian aid Afghanistan On Tuesday morning, half of the country’s population is suffering from severe hunger.
it came as United Nations More than $5 billion appealed for disaster relief Taliban acquisition last year.
Billions of dollars were accumulated in Afghan assets and international aid was halted overnight as Western governments, which fought the Taliban, stopped aid.
Late last year, the Biden administration described it as a ‘broad authority’ to allow the United Nations, aid agencies, US government agencies to work with the Taliban and blacklisted groups to violate sanctions. without assistance.
White House spokeswoman Emily Horn said on Tuesday that the new aid from the US Agency for International Development would be channeled through independent humanitarian organizations for shelter, health care, emergency food aid, water, sanitation and sanitation services.
“The United States remains committed to supporting the Afghan people and we continue to consider all options available to us,” he said.
‘We stand with the people of Afghanistan.’
A nurse checks a baby’s weight at a makeshift clinic hosted by World Vision in a settlement near Herat, Afghanistan. The White House on Tuesday announced $308 million in additional humanitarian aid for Afghanistan, offering the country new aid as it approaches a humanitarian crisis since its takeover by the Taliban nearly five months ago.
A burqa-clad Afghan woman sits with a child on her lap while begging passers-by on a snow-covered bridge in Kabul, January 6, 2022
The Taliban takeover in August prompted foreign governments to turn to funding, which accounted for about 75 percent of government spending, leading to the crisis.
President Joe Biden has been accused of leaving Afghanistan after deciding to bring US troops home, paving the way for the Taliban to return to power.
The US also said that it would send one lakh additional doses of the coronavirus vaccine.
But the aid immediately raised concerns that it could fall into the wrong hands or help bolster the Taliban’s position.
Brett Bruen, the director of the White House under President Barack Obama, said: ‘I don’t understand why we didn’t condition this aid to the Taliban to meet certain basic human rights standards, without which the humanitarian situation is only going to worsen. . ,
Campaigners have warned that the Taliban takeover has sparked a human rights crisis as well as a humanitarian disaster after the president withdrew US troops last summer.
Girls are denied entry to high schools in most parts of the country; Taliban gunmen have carried out brief executions of former officers and security force personnel; And journalists were beaten and intimidated.
Videos from this week showed radicals beheading female effigies as they clearly defied the group’s strict interpretation of Islam.
The acquisition in August quickly spun off most of the foreign funding, which had supported nearly three-quarters of government spending.
Banks ran out of cash and millions of people lost their income.
Foreign governments have been reluctant to recognize the country’s new rulers, making it difficult to provide them with the assistance they need.
On Tuesday, the United Nations launched an appeal for $4.4 billion in humanitarian aid – the largest ever for a single country.
United Nations emergency relief coordinator Martin Griffiths said events had unfolded at a ‘revolving pace’ and a catastrophe was about to occur.
“Humanitarian partners are on the ground, and they are working despite the challenges,” he said.
‘Help us prevent widespread hunger, disease, malnutrition and ultimately death by supporting the humanitarian plan we are launching today.’
In addition, the United Nations sought more than $600 million to help disperse the refugees to neighboring countries.
The United Nations High Commission for Refugees, Filippo Grandi, said: ‘The international community must do everything possible to prevent devastation in Afghanistan, which will not only reduce suffering but encourage more displacement in the country and region. ,
Last month the UN refugee agency predicted that 23 million people – more than half its population – were facing extreme hunger. It said about nine million were at risk of famine.