Funds are running dry in Afghanistan but economic crisis continues, says UN agency

Kabul [Afghanistan], March 7 (ANI): Underlining the need for more humanitarian assistance in Afghanistan, the food-assistance branch of the United Nations, has once again raised concern about the growing multifold crisis in the country.
"WFP funds are running dry but the economic crisis continues. Nearly no family can access enough to eat and humanitarian needs may reach levels we cannot meet," World Food Programme (WFP) tweeted.
Margot Van Der Velden, Director of Emergencies, who is working in Kandahar said it is a "very desperate situation that we see here."
"23 million people in Afghanistan are facing an acute food insecurity situation. As per a January survey, 95 per cent of the household don't have enough food," she said.
As the world's attention shifts to the conflict and displacement crisis in Ukraine, the International Rescue Committee (IRC) last week had called on the world to not neglect Afghanistan.
The IRC, in a statement, said the international community should seize this window of opportunity in Afghanistan to prevent famine, save lives, and put an end to the horrific conditions facing women and girls,
It called for a scale-up of life-saving humanitarian aid, and policy changes to alleviate the economic crisis that is tipping the scale towards preventable death and suffering.
Amanda Catanzano, Vice President of Policy and Advocacy at the IRC, said, "We applaud the recent good work done by the US and other donor governments to alleviate the suffering in Afghanistan. Specifically, the World Bank board's decision to provide USD 1 billion from the Afghanistan Reconstruction Trust Fund to UN agencies and aid organizations operating in the country."
Catanzano said these funds will help restore essential health and education services that have been paralyzed since August when donors froze funds that made up 75 per cent of public spending.
This funding will also help Afghans rebuild their livelihoods at a time of record food insecurity when nearly 9 million Afghans live on the brink of famine, she added. (ANI)