The United Nations warned on Wednesday that the food supply in Afghanistan could run out as soon as this month, UN News reported.
The UN official statement warning of a food supply shortage called on the international community to step up support for providing humanitarian aid to Afghanistan.
Deputy Special Representative and Humanitarian Coordinator in Afghanistan, Ramiz Alakbarov, emphasized that the UN remains committed to delivering aid to the people in Afghanistan, but more funding is needed to reach millions of Afghans who depend on foreign aid to survive.
According to Alakbarov, more than half of children under five years old are suffering from extreme malnutrition and one-third of citizens are not getting enough to eat, UN news reported.
“It is extremely important that we prevent Afghanistan from descending into a further humanitarian catastrophe by taking the necessary steps to provide essential items which this country needs right now. And that is to support food, health and protection services, and non-food items, to those who are in extreme need,” said Mr. Alakbarov, speaking from the capital, Kabul.
On Tuesday the United Nations General Secretary Antony Guterres in a statement said that he is extremely concerned with the deepening of humanitarian and economic crisis and the total collapse of basic services.
“Today, almost half of the population of Afghanistan – 18 million people – need humanitarian assistance to survive. One in three Afghans do not know where their next meal will come from.
“More than half of all children under-five are expected to become acutely malnourished in the next year. People are losing access to basic goods and services every day. A humanitarian catastrophe looms,” Guterres said in a statement.
The statement also called on the international community to provide humanitarian support for Afghans who now need support more than ever.
“I urge all Member States to dig deep for the people of Afghanistan in their darkest hour of need. I urge them to provide timely, flexible and comprehensive funding. I urge them to help ensure humanitarian workers have the funding, access, and legal safeguards they need to stay and deliver,” the statement reads.
The humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan has evolved after the former government was toppled by the Taliban on August 15, with former President Ashraf Ghani fleeing the country.
Consequently, most of the donor countries suspended their diplomatic presence in Afghanistan which resulted in the suspension of many humanitarian activities.
