Germany announces USD 140 million to support UNICEF in Afghanistan

Kabul [Afghanistan], February 2 (ANI): To help children and women in Afghanistan who are facing severe conditions due to humanitarian crisis and harsh winters, Germany Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation on Wednesday announced USD 140 million to support United Nations International Children Emergency Fund (UNICEF) programmes in the war-torn nation.
UNICEF representative to Afghanistan Alice Akunga expressed gratitude to Germany's announcement of the fund and added that the support will help a generation of children in Afghanistan in this critical situation, reported The Khaama Press.
"This unprecedented contribution in flexible funding will allow UNICEF to be more agile and give us the ability to steer resources to the most critical programs in the country," said Akunga.
As per the information of UNICEF, 35 million people in Afghanistan are expected to rely on basic primary health care services for life-saving care.
The UN children's program has elaborated that the money will help them provide children with routine vaccinations, health services, and treatment for severe acute malnutrition, reported The Khaama Press.
Germany has been a leading contributor to UNICEF's work in Afghanistan that had contributed USD 50 million to the program in 2016.
Meanwhile, World Food Programme (WFP) on Tuesday announced that it needs urgent funding of USD 2.6 billion to boost operations for 8.7 million starving Afghans as the freezing winter is deteriorating the situation.
Moreover, the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan has led the Afghan people to sell their children and parts of their bodies to survive.
Afghanistan is struggling with drought, a pandemic, an economic collapse, and the effects of years of conflict. Some 24 million people are experiencing acute food insecurity. More than half the population will be facing famine this winter and 97 per cent of the population could fall below the poverty line this year. (ANI)