US urged the world to stand by Afghanistan

The United Nations asked the world to support Afghanistan at a pledging conference on Thursday where it is aiming to collect a record $4.4 billion in humanitarian assistance to the war-torn country.

After the Taliban took over the country on August 15 in wake of the withdrawal of the US military. the humanitarian crisis in the country has exacerbated even more.

The donor conference comes a week after hardline Islamists, despite promising a gentler version of their previous brutal dictatorship from 1996 to 2001, shut down girls’ schools, causing considerable worldwide outrage.

While criticizing the decisions of closure by the Taliban, co-hosts the UN, Britain, Germany and Qatar urged other nations to not abandon Afghans as more than 60 per cent of them are still in need of aid for survival.

They also made it a top priority that donors should not get too much involved in the Russia-Ukraine war.

“Ukraine is of vital importance but Afghanistan calls to our soul for commitment and loyalty,” UN humanitarian coordinator Martin Griffiths told reporters, speaking from Kabul.

– ‘Avert the worst’ –

The council has asked for three times the amount compared to the previous year. However, only 13 per cent of the needed amount could be secured so far.

It added that the war-torn country’s economic conditions have worsened, with more than 24 million Afghans in need of humanitarian assistance to live.

“We need to avert the worst in Afghanistan and that’s why we’re calling on donors to step up and be generous,” said Griffiths.

Basic services like health and education, according to the British diplomat, are now “on their knees,” with millions of people unemployed and relying on loans to get by, with food accounting for 80 percent of household income.

In addition, “as if things couldn’t get any worse,” he added, the country is experiencing its worst drought in years.

The Taliban stirred anger by ordering the closure of girls’ secondary schools just hours after reopening them for the first time since regaining control.

“We very much look forward to those positions being rescinded in the near term,” said Griffiths.

“I hope it will not mean that the pledges we hear for this conference are limited by that.”

– ‘Beacon of hope’ –

Qatar foreign ministry spokesman Majed Al-Ansari said it was important for the Taliban to hear it from the Muslim world that “the teachings of Islam do not confine women”.

“While we understand the sensitivity behind pledging for Afghanistan in this climate, we stress also the importance of not isolating Afghanistan again. This legitimises radical positions,” he told reporters.

“We should be very strong in condemnation and we should be very clear in talking to the Taliban about any infringement on human rights but also we should not abandon Afghanistan. We have abandoned Afghanistan once, and we know what the result was.”

The event begins at 1300 GMT with a speech by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and is expected to last around four hours.

The United Kingdom has announced a $380 million pledge for the coming fiscal year, with at least half of the funds for women and girls.

The conference’s purpose, according to Ansari, was to give Afghans “hope for the future” by bringing them together and preserving life and human rights in the country.

“Afghanistan could be a lost cause or a beacon for hope,” he said.

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