WASHINGTON / NEW YORK: United Nations cannot get enough cash to Afghanistan to provide humanitarian assistance to millions of people on the threshold of starvation and struggle to develop options to help stabilize the economy that collapses, UN officials said.
Political solutions are needed in the end, a Senior UN official told Reuters with anonymity requirements, a real reference for sanctions assistance and for the government and institutions to free billions of dollars in Afghan assets held abroad.
Meanwhile, UN agencies scrambled to find a way to get a large number of US dollars to Afghanistan to fight the liquidity crisis that had been held since the Taliban overthrew the west-supported government in August.
UN officials share with Reuters several recommended options.
US dollar delivery to Afghanistan has stopped since Islamic militants seized power and if the country or international financial institution does not rise, the United Nations may have to fill the gap, the official said.
One recommended option is to use Afghan International Bank, which can bring and save money, but there is a problem with insurance, the UN official said.
The United Nations also realized that there was no one choice that would work and several ways to get enough cash to Afghanistan needed, the official said.
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has called for international monetary funds to approve relief or mechanisms to get money to Afghanistan.
The IMF has blocked the Taliban to access around $ 440 million in new emergency reserves.
Most assets abroad Central Bank Afghanistan has been frozen, mostly in the United States.
The US treasury said there were no plans to release money.
“We need to work together to make the economy breathe again and to help people survive,” Guterres said on Wednesday.
“Injection liquidity to the Afghan economy can be done without violating international law or compromise principles.” Flying in the no money on the table no UN has repeatedly warned that the Afghan economy was on the verge of collapsing and the possibility of triggering a further refugee crisis.
When asked about the UN effort to get cash to Afghanistan, Mary-Ellen McGroarty, the head of the World Food Program in Afghanistan, told reporters on Tuesday: “The Collective UN is looking at what potential solutions we can have, but fly in money to the country Not yet on the table.
“” What we use today is limited liquidity in this country, “he said.
“But the longer this takes place, we feel more difficult.” About 8.7 million people are “one step away from hunger,” said McGroarty, added: “There is a tsunami of destutue, extraordinary suffering and hunger out of control.” Taliban face international pressure that develops for an inclusive Afghan government and representative and to uphold human rights, especially for women and girls in return for international recognition and release assistance and reserves.
Donors and institutions also try to avoid carrying UN sanctions and unilateral in the Taliban.
The United Nations appeals to countries “to provide humanitarian release to enable funds to reach aid organizations in the country,” UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said, without taking the name.
UN agencies and aid groups currently use informal money networks – known as Hawala – and a small amount of cash at the bank to pay staff salaries and for other small-scale purchases, Dujarric told Reuters.
“This modality is not enough for large-scale operations that require cash payments or cash assistance in the country,” Dujarric said, adding that the United Nations was talking to international financial institutions to find a solution that would expand operations.
An important part of the UN plan to inject money into Afghanistan is to provide direct cash to the poor Afghan family.
The United Nations desperately needs cash in Afghanistan
