UN humanitarian agencies warned on Tuesday that a harsh winter in Afghanistan is aggravating already severe conditions that are challenging millions of Afghans across the country.
The spokesperson of the General Secretary of the United Nations, Stéphane Dujarric, announced that based on the estimates of the UN Office of the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), they have so far collected $1.5 billion to address the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan.
“Provision of winterization support, including cash and non-food items, is also under way in various parts of the country” Dujarric said.
Dujarric at the daily briefing in New York on Tuesday said that in the past 24 hours, heavy snowfall and rain have impacted a number of areas, disrupting flights to and from Kabul Airport. He said that winter is making the lives of Afghan people more dire.
“Further snow and low temperatures are forecast in the coming days,” UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said.
Meanwhile, OCHA said that in 2021, donors provided $1.5 billion for two humanitarian appeals, including $776 million of the $606 million required for the Flash Appeal launched in September by the Secretary-General, and $730 million of the $869 million sought in the Humanitarian Response Plan.
