According to Associated Press on April 1, UN Secretary-General Guterres said on Thursday that almost all Afghans do not have enough food, and some people rely on "selling children and selling body organs" to exchange for food.
United Nations Secretary-General Guterres Source: Visual China
Report said that Guterres's statement is part of a strong call issued by United Nations and several wealthy countries. These countries hope to help troubled Afghans. Guterres launched an online pledge conference supported by the UK, Germany and Qatar, seeking to promote $4.4 billion in aid to Afghanistan, which will be the largest funding UN funding to individual countries.
The Associated Press mentioned that previously, some wealthy countries have frozen nearly $9 billion in Afghanistan's overseas assets to avoid the temporary government formed by the Afghan Taliban .
In recent weeks, senior UN officials visited Afghanistan and met with senior Taliban officials, saying Afghanistan has not been forgotten. UN data shows that as Afghanistan falls into a serious humanitarian crisis, the economy has plummeted, and about 23 million people are facing a serious food crisis.
Afghan refugees Source: Visual China
Guterres said: "Wealthy and powerful countries cannot ignore the consequences of their decisions on the most vulnerable groups. About 95% of Afghanistan's population does not have enough food, and 9 million people are at risk of famine." He quoted estimates from UNICEF that if no immediate action is taken, more than 1 million severely malnourished children are on the verge of death. "In exchange for food, people have begun to sell their children and body organs."
The Associated Press said that in many rural areas of Afghanistan and the poorest areas of the country, girls are often married during adolescence, and sometimes even early, and their families will receive dowry. Aid organizations have documented some cases of Afghan girls being sold by desperate parents. While the United Nations is working to ensure that aid can be achieved, British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said the UK will resume providing Afghanistan with £286 million from 2021 this year. German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said Germany has provided 200 million euros in aid to Afghanistan. Qatar said it has provided $50 million in aid to Afghanistan in recent months and has pledged another $25 million this year. Linda Thomas-Greenfield, U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations, said the United States announced that it would provide nearly $204 million in humanitarian aid funds to Afghanistan.
Afghan refugee Picture source: Visual China
The final statistics of the United Nations Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) showed that as of Thursday, 41 countries had promised assistance, totaling US$2.4 billion. Because donors may choose to use a portion of the funds directly to help Afghan refugees in neighboring countries, not all amounts can be included in the United Nations' target of providing $4.4 billion in aid to Afghanistan.
Meanwhile, 11 U.S. senators issued a joint statement urging the Biden administration to encourage international donors to help respond to the UN’s call. They wrote: "Even as crises in Yemen , Ukraine, Ethiopia , Syria and elsewhere continue, the international community cannot lose its attention to Afghanistan."
(Editor: ZLQ)
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