Monitoring Desk
UNITED NATIONS: A senior UN official has said that economic downturn and climate change were fueling the crisis in Afghanistan, and there have been no “encouraging developments” toward getting girls back into classrooms.
In Afghanistan, where the Taliban retook power in 2021 after fighting a war against the US-backed government in Kabul since 2001, more than 28 million people rely on aid to survive.
UN Deputy Special Representative for Afghanistan
UN Deputy Special Representative and Humanitarian Coordinator for Afghanistan Ramiz Alakbarov told reporters in New York via video link from Kabul that Afghanistan will remain the world’s largest humanitarian crisis in 2023, despite the recent devastating earthquakes in Turkey and Syria. This year, the UN and its partners hope to raise $4.6 billion to help the Afghan people.
According to Alakbarov, the GDP has fallen by up to 35% in the last 18 months, the cost of a basic food basket has risen by 30%, and unemployment has increased by 40%. Furthermore, roughly 75% of people’s income is now spent solely on food.
Meanwhile, the UN remains in contact with Taliban officials in the aftermath of edicts prohibiting girls from attending secondary school and women from working with local and international aid agencies.
Alakbarov stated, “I regret to say that to date, we haven’t seen any news or any optimistic developments concerning girls’ education. The United Nations continues to advocate for this. In terms of humanitarian work, he noted that, following the visit of UN relief chief Martin Griffiths last month, the Taliban made exceptions for the participation of women in the health and education sectors.
Alakbarov was questioned about Taliban meddling in aid delivery. He stated that distributions were halted in “severe cases” in at least two provinces in the previous four months. They resumed after the issues were resolved.
Alakbarov also talked about how the UN ensures that funds were not diverted to the Taliban. He described some of the risk management and mitigation mechanisms in place, including payment verification systems and third-party monitoring.
Beneficiaries can also interact with the UN through hotlines and other channels, such as “to lodge complaints, raise alarms, or be a whistleblower.” The senior aid official was also asked about divisions within the Taliban leadership over the education and humanitarian restrictions, but he declined to comment because he did not believe it would be helpful.
