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The head of UN refugee affairs said on Friday that only one-third of the funds urgently sought by the UN for Afghanistan had been paid, warning of a possible humanitarian disaster.
Filippo Grandi urged donor countries to fulfil their financial commitments quickly. He said: “Can you make specific commitments to provide support in times of emergency”.
Grandi, who visited Afghanistan after being taken over by the Taliban on August 15, said at a press conference: “The promise has been made, so it’s a question of paying them because we need to get these resources quickly.”
Considering that the harsh winter in this mountainous and predominantly rural country is approaching, he talked about “a race against time to meet humanitarian needs.”
“The collapse of the service industry-the banking system, the economy-does have the potential to trigger a greater humanitarian crisis,” he said.
On September 17, just over a month after the fall of Kabul, the Geneva Ministerial Conference chaired by United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres saw donor countries pledged $1.2 billion in aid.
However, it is not clear how much of this amount will be used for the US$606 million specifically requested by the United Nations to provide humanitarian assistance to 11 million Afghans by the end of 2021.
Grandi said that so far, only 35% of this amount has been paid. Of the 300 million requested by his organization, UNHCR, only 18% were received.
He said that UN agencies such as the World Health Organization, World Food Program and UNICEF all have infrastructure in Afghanistan.
Grandi also urged countries to continue to provide development assistance to a country that relied heavily on such aid before the Taliban came to power.
“The Taliban is not a recognized government, so how to interact with development agencies will be more complicated than humanitarian agencies, but I do hope to find a solution,” he said.
“Unless this is discovered, I expect a greater humanitarian crisis. I can foresee large-scale displacement, that’s for sure.”
The EU’s top diplomat Jose Puborel urged the EU on Friday to admit “10,000 to more than 20,000” Afghan refugees.
Borel said at a forum in Madrid that about 22,000 Afghans remained in the European Union after evacuating their country.
The European Union said on Thursday that Grandi’s request to receive 42,500 Afghan refugees within five years can be fulfilled-although any decision depends on its member states.
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