Afghanistan Facing Worst Humanitarian Disaster Ever Seen: UN


Afghanistan Facing Worst Humanitarian Disaster Ever Seen: UN

TEHRAN (Tasnim) - Afghanistan could experience the worst humanitarian crisis “we’ve ever seen,” as millions are risking famine, and practically the whole population is on the verge of poverty, according to a UN official speaking to CNBC this week.

Some 23 million people are in desperate need of food, the $20 billion economy could shrink by $4 billion or more and 97% of the 38 million population are at risk of sinking into poverty, Abdallah Al Dardari, the resident representative for the UNDP in Afghanistan, said Wednesday.

“Afghanistan is probably facing the worst humanitarian disaster we’ve ever seen,” Al Dardari told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Asia.”

“We have never seen an economic shock of that magnitude and we have never seen a humanitarian crisis of that magnitude,” he said.

Funding for the humanitarian crisis and for essential services is crucial to maintain lives and livelihood in the Central Asian country, he added.

Multiple reports say that several areas in Afghanistan are also facing droughts even as winter approaches.

When the Taliban suddenly swept into power in August, world governments cut off Afghanistan’s access to international funding and froze the Afghan central bank’s roughly $10 billion in assets held abroad that led to a collapse in public finances, and many workers stopped receiving salaries, which extended pressure on the country’s banking system.

The international community has yet to recognize the Taliban group as Afghanistan’s de facto rulers.

The UNDP’s Al Dardari said the international community can do plenty on the humanitarian front and to help keep essential services afloat.

“We are talking now immediate, short-term interventions while keeping our eyes on the medium and the long term,” he said.

In late October, a meeting of the foreign ministers representing the neighbors of Afghanistan kicked off in Tehran, in which the foreign ministers of Iran, Pakistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan took part in the meeting in person, while their peers from China and Russia have attended the event via videoconference.

In an address to the conference, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian expressed hope that the meeting would send a “joint message with a united voice” to the international community, regional states, and parties inside Afghanistan.

Calling for collective efforts to help Afghanistan weather the crisis, the Iranian foreign minister said, “Respect for the sovereignty, protection of the territorial integrity, and non-interference in the affairs of others are among the basic principles of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s foreign policy.”

The top Iranian diplomat also noted that many problems in Afghanistan are rooted in foreign interference.

“The US must take on responsibility with a loud voice for the catastrophes it has caused in Afghanistan over the past two decades, and should take serious action in addition to the efforts made by the international community in order for the great Afghan nation to get through the challenges, pains and miseries faced by the people of that country,” he stated.

Amirabdollahian also attributed the pullout of American military forces from Afghanistan to the efforts of the great Afghan nation.

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