Afghanistan (Again)

[lizkat]

Meanwhile winter is imminent or present now in Afghanistan, the west has not released Afghan assets held abroad, the Taliban cannot manage food distribution even if it had the wherewithal... the UN has classified much of the citizenry as critically food insecure, and some provinces had poor harvests due to drought that persists into the cold weather.

Afghanistan is facing the ‘worst humanitarian disaster we’ve ever seen,’ the UN says

Almost 97% of Afghanistan's 38 million population are at risk of sinking into poverty, Abdallah Al Dardari, the resident representative for the UNDP said.

www.cnbc.com

Some 23 million people are in desperate need of food, the $20 billion economy could shrink by $4 billion or more and 97% of the 38 million population are at risk of sinking into poverty, Abdallah Al Dardari, the resident representative for the UNDP in Afghanistan, said Wednesday.

“Afghanistan is probably facing the worst humanitarian disaster we’ve ever seen,” Al Dardari told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Asia.”

“We have never seen an economic shock of that magnitude and we have never seen a humanitarian crisis of that magnitude,” he said. Funding for the humanitarian crisis and for essential services is crucial to maintain lives and livelihood in the Central Asian country, he added.

Pakistan hosted a meeting in Islamabad on Thursday, with representatives from China, Russia and the United States, to discuss the situation in Afghanistan.

Officials from the four countries also met with senior Taliban representatives on the sidelines, according to the U.S. State Department.

Prime Minister Imran Khan said that Pakistan is “sending essential food items, emergency medical supplies [and] winter shelters to provide immediate relief” to Afghans. He also urged the international community to fulfill “its collective responsibility to avert a grave humanitarian crisis” in Afghanistan.

 

[SuperMatt]

Meanwhile winter is imminent or present now in Afghanistan, the west has not released Afghan assets held abroad, the Taliban cannot manage food distribution even if it had the wherewithal... the UN has classified much of the citizenry as critically food insecure, and some provinces had poor harvests due to drought that persists into the cold weather.

Afghanistan is facing the ‘worst humanitarian disaster we’ve ever seen,’ the UN says

Almost 97% of Afghanistan's 38 million population are at risk of sinking into poverty, Abdallah Al Dardari, the resident representative for the UNDP said.

www.cnbc.com

They don’t want to release money to the Taliban, but if they don’t, the crisis will get worse.

Just a terrible situation.

 

[lizkat]

They don’t want to release money to the Taliban, but if they don’t, the crisis will get worse.

Just a terrible situation.

The administration has arranged now with Qatar to represent US interests in further direct talks with Taliban. An official proxy is at least an improvement over just talking at each other through social media and op-eds.

Qatar agrees to represent US interests in Afghanistan

Secretary of State Antony Blinken says the Gulf nation of Qatar has agreed to represent American interests in Afghanistan following the closure if the U.S. embassy in Kabul in late August

abcnews.go.com

Meanwhile, the window of feasible deliveries to some of the provinces in winter is already closing. UNHCR has been delivering winterization supplies for displaced Afghans, and I read somewhere they've stashed some emergency food in Uzbekistan for later use, but I also read that their $600 million budget for such humanitarian aid purposes is only half-funded.

UNHCR begins airlifting aid to Kabul

A plane carrying winter relief from the UN Refugee Agency’s global stockpiles in Dubai is landing this afternoon in Kabul, Afghanistan.

www.unhcr.org