The United Nations Head of WFP (World Food Program) has once again expressed concern over the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan where people have resorted to selling their children and parts of their bodies to ensure survival.
The Chief of the World Food Program, David Beasley has again urged the international community to accelerate aid delivery to Afghanistan as more than half of the Afghan population is starving in the country. The nation is struggling with a pandemic, drought, economic collapse, and the aftermath of years of conflicts. Around 24 million people in Afghanistan are experiencing acute food insecurity.
Over half of the total population of the nation is estimated to face famine this winter. Around 97 per cent of the population is also expected to fall below the poverty line this year. As per the statement made by Basely, Afghanistan was already one of the poorest nations in the world, with 20 years, of at least conflict with the Taliban, they are facing a catastrophic situation. The number of people that are starving is around 23 million out of 40 million people in Afghanistan.
Basely, in an interview with German public state-owned international broadcaster Deutsche Welle (DW), mentioned the case of a woman that he met in Afghanistan who was forced to sell her daughter to another family in the hopes that she will be well fed there.
The United States and their allies left the country in August last year, but several international charities and aid groups have continued to support the locals and helped in curtailing the exacerbating humanitarian situation in the nation. David Beasley has called on the richest people of the world to provide help to Afghanistan to solve the current hunger crisis that the country is facing. He further added that the COVID pandemic has led to the accumulation of unprecedented money in the hands of the world’s billionaires. More than $5.2 billion of net worth is increasing every day. All that is needed is one day’s worth of their net worth increase to address the short-term crisis in Afghanistan.
Some Special Representatives and Special Envoys of the EU, Germany, France, Norway, Italy, the US, and the UK met in Oslo earlier this week to discuss the situation of Afghanistan which included sessions with the representatives of the Taliban. The Western Envoys, in a joint statement, had urged the urgent need to address the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan and also highlighted the need to help alleviate the suffering of people living there.
The statement further added that the participant had recognized some steps taken to ease access for humanitarian workers and also expressed concerns about certain impediments being in place. They also stressed that all these conditions and obstacles have to be removed swiftly for the delivery of humanitarian aid.
