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The conference will call for an unobstructed humanitarian passage to ensure that Afghans continue to receive the basic services they need
A spokesperson for UN Secretary-General António Guterres said on Friday that UN Secretary-General António Guterres will travel to Geneva on September 13 to hold a high-level meeting on assistance to Afghanistan.
Stephane Dujarric warned that after 20 years of war, the country now under the control of the Taliban is facing “imminent humanitarian disaster.”
“The meeting will advocate for a rapid increase in funding so that life-saving humanitarian operations can continue; and call for full and unimpeded humanitarian assistance to ensure that Afghans continue to receive the basic services they need,” he said in a statement.
He said that the country’s development achievements must also be protected, and women’s rights are a “basic” part of Afghanistan’s future stability.
Even before the Taliban’s victory, Afghanistan relied heavily on aid-40% of the country’s GDP came from foreign funds.
The United Nations warned that 18 million people are facing a humanitarian disaster and another 18 million people may soon join them.
“One-third of Afghans don’t know where their next meal will come from. It is estimated that in the next 12 months, nearly half of children under five will experience severe malnutrition,” Dujarik said.
Residents of Kabul expressed concern about the country’s long-standing economic difficulties, and now the Taliban’s takeover has made the situation even more complicated.
After the Afghan government fell and the Taliban controlled Kabul for two weeks, the United States ended the war in Afghanistan on August 30.
Those days were marked by the frantic evacuation of Americans, other foreigners, and Afghans who fled the new Taliban regime.
Since the U.S. withdrawal, the Taliban have been cooperating with Qatar to put Kabul Airport back into use as a rescue lifeline.
On Thursday, the United Nations said it had resumed humanitarian flights to parts of the country, connecting the Pakistani capital Islamabad with Mazar-i-Sharif in the north of Afghanistan and Kandahar in the south.
The country’s flagship airline, Ariane Afghan Airlines, resumed domestic flights on Friday, while the UAE sent a plane carrying “emergency medical and food assistance”.
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