Washington: International donors agreed to release $ 280 million in aid to Afghanistan, the World Bank said Friday, after repeated warnings that more than half the population faced the lack of this winter food.
Funds of the Afghanistan Reconstruction Guardian Fund (ARTIF) will go “to provide humanitarian assistance to the Afghan people at this critical moment,” the World Bank said in a statement.
Funds will go to UNICEF and the World Food Program, which “has the capacity of attendance and logistics in the field in Afghanistan and will use these funds to cover the financing gap in their existing programs to provide health and nutrition services directly to Afghans.
” Bank management earlier this month offers a proposal to redirect funds intended for rebuilding efforts.
The United Nations has repeatedly warned that Afghanistan is on the verge of the worst humanitarian crisis in the world.
About 22 million Afghans, or more than half a country, will face lack of “acute” food in the months of winter, forcing millions to choose between migration and hunger.
It was because of the combined effects of drought caused by global warming, and the economic crisis was exacerbated by the decision of the international community to freeze funds to the state which depend on assistance after the Taliban takeover in August – the UN decision described in recent reports in recent reports as “an unprecedented fiscal surprise”.
Washington freezes around $ 10 billion from state reserves and the World Bank and international monetary funds stop Afghan access to funding.
Many people in the capital Kabul have used household items to feed themselves and buy coal to heat their homes in winter.
UNICEF will receive $ 100 million to provide important health services, and the WFP will receive $ 180 million, the statement said.