UN aid chief pushes for restart of Afghanistan development aid

Countries should restart some development aid for impoverished Afghanistan that was halted a year ago when the Taliban seized power, the UN aid chief said on Monday, as the United States told Russia and China to “put your money where your mouth is.”

Afghanistan has long relied heavily on development aid, which was cut as the international community demanded the Taliban respect human rights, particularly girls and women whose access to work and school has been limited by the Islamists.

“Poverty is deepening, the population is still growing, and the de facto authorities have no budget to invest in their own future. It’s clear to us that some development support needs to be restarted,” UN aid chief Martin Griffiths told the UN Security Council.

More than half of Afghanistan’s 39 million people need humanitarian help and six million are at risk of famine, said Griffiths. More than a million children are “estimated to be suffering from the most severe, life-threatening form of malnutrition” and could die without proper treatment, he said.

“Afghanistan’s de facto authorities must also do their part. Bureaucratic interferences and procedures slow down humanitarian assistance when it is needed most. Female humanitarian aid workers … must be allowed to work unhindered and securely. And girls must be allowed to continue their education,” he said.

The Taliban has not been formally recognised by any foreign governments and is still subjected to international sanctions, which the UN and aid groups say are now hindering humanitarian operations in Afghanistan.

International banks are wary of breaching sanctions and the UN and aid groups have been struggling to get enough money into the country over the past year.