Faced with looming humanitarian catastrophe that is on the verge to happen in Afghanistan following the hastened US troops pullout and the evacuation efforts afterward, UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres announced on Friday that the UN will convene international aid conference on September 13.
Guterres, who informed about the conference in Geneva to help avert the potential crisis on his official profile on Twitter, pointed that the international community must to stand together and support the Afghan people.
He stressed that he would seek a swift scale-up in funding for humanitarian relief and appealed for full and unimpeded humanitarian access so the Afghans can continue to get the essential services they desperately need.
According to the aid agencies, more than 18 million Afghans were already struggling to feed their families amid severe drought and the coronavirus pandemic Afghanistan has been battling in 2020 on top of the constant fighting between the allied troops and the Taliban, who have now regained control over the country.
The new, more precarious situation in Afghanistan with the country being isolated and the economy unraveling will put in greater risk of facing starvation another 18 million Afghans if conditions deteriorate further.
Guterres emphasized that the United Nations stands in solidarity with the people of Afghanistan and is committed to staying and delivering for them, and already started acting on its word with the UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric announcing on Friday that they’ve restarted its Humanitarian Air Service operations in a bid to enable some 160 aid organizations to continue their activities.
The UN Humanitarian Air Service, pperated by the World Food Program, transfer the humanitarian aid from the Islamabad in Pakistan to Mazar-i-Sharif and Kandahar.
Meanwhile UN representatives are holding talks with the Taliban to continue critical aid.
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