In 2001, forty countries joined the US-led coalition to fight the Afghan war. More than twenty years on, the country is in crisis. In the six months since the fall of Kabul, much of the country has fallen into desperate times. 98% of the population is on the brink of famine.
And yet, slow moving governments, insular fiscal policy, and international sanctions are preventing vital food supplies reaching the Afghan people.
The clock is ticking.
Disease is rife, children are dying; the scale of this humanitarian disaster is the stuff of nightmares. Life threatening diseases are spreading throughout the country.
Cholera and polio outbreaks are devastating children’s lives. And that’s on top of the risks posed by Covid, in a country where just 10% of adults are vaccinated.
Why is the international community so slow to react? The EU has agreed to donate $280million to ending the crisis. So far, just 25% has reached Afghanistan. Meanwhile, the World Bank has yet to release the $1.2bn it allocated to helping the troubled country. Aid is trickling in too slowly.
It is in no one’s interest to leave hunger unaddressed, children unvaccinated and girls uneducated.
We must take action now.
Afghanistan’s health workers, teachers and public servants have spent months cut off. These workers, essential to Afghanistan’s future, have not been paid for months. We must save their lives by empowering the banking system to release cash to pay their salaries.
Rich countries must release more aid. UN humanitarian chief Martin Griffith demanded $4.4bn from wealthy countries towards the crisis. To date, only 25% of this has been paid. The World Bank must also release the Afghan money it holds in trust.
There is also much to be done in the UK. Britain must convene a pledging conference to galvanise the international community into action. Unless Afghanistan receives the $4.5bn soon, the country will be plunged into famine.
The human costs do not bear thinking about.
