The United States on Tuesday announced $308 million in additional humanitarian assistance for Afghanistan, offering new aid to the country as it edges toward a starvation crisis since the Taliban takeover nearly five months ago.
The American taxpayer has now donated $782 million to Afghanistan refugees since October 2021.
Emily Horne said in a statement that the new aid from the U.S. Agency for International Development will flow through independent humanitarian organizations and will be used to provide shelter, health care, winterization assistance, emergency food aid, water, sanitation and hygiene services.
The country’s long-troubled economy has been in a tailspin since the Taliban takeover. Nearly 80% of Afghanistan’s previous government’s budget came from the international community. That money, now cut off, financed hospitals, schools, factories and government ministries.
The United Nations is seeking more than $5 billion from international donors this year to tackle the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan. It’s the largest-ever UN appeal for a single country, to avert what it describes as a “catastrophe”. More than half of Afghanistan’s population will need emergency assistance this year, with the world body estimating that 55 percent of Afghans are suffering from acute hunger. FRANCE 24’s business editor Stephen Carroll has the details.
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