Taliban members put down their weapons as they pray inside a mosque in Kabul, Afghanistan, Sunday, September 12, 2021.
The United Nations is hosting a high-level donors’ conference on Monday to raise emergency funds for Afghanistan after the Taliban took the country last month, which stunned the world. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was leading a call for the world body to raise more than $600 million for the rest of this year when his country’s government was toppled by the Taliban in a “flash appeal” to Afghans And was out for 20 years by US and NATO forces. War in a chaotic departure.
There are concerns that instability and continued humanitarian efforts, compounded by an ongoing drought, could further endanger lives and drive Afghanistan to famine.
The conference will test some Western governments and other large traditional UN donors who seek to help everyday Afghans without handing public relations victories or cash to the Taliban, who ousted the internationally-backed government from power.
The UN says “recent developments” have increased the vulnerability of Afghans who are already facing decades of deprivation and violence. A severe drought is threatening the upcoming crop, and hunger is increasing. The United Nations’ World Food Program is to be a major beneficiary of any money collected during Monday’s conference.
Along with its allies, the United Nations is seeking $606 million to help 11 million people for the rest of the year.
To coincide with Monday’s conference in Geneva, the head of the UN refugee agency, Filippo Grandi, made a previously unannounced visit to Kabul. He wrote on Twitter that he would assess the humanitarian needs and the situation of 3.5 million displaced Afghans – including more than 500,000 people displaced this year alone.
UNHCR officials have expressed concern that some may seek refuge in traditional shelters for fleeing Afghans in neighboring Pakistan and Iran, both of which have large numbers of Afghans who flee war and violence. had fled the country.
The Taliban seized power on 15 August, the day they captured Kabul after capturing the outlying provinces in a blitz campaign. He initially promised totality and a general amnesty for former opponents, but many Afghans fear the new rulers. Taliban police officers have beaten Afghan journalists, violently dispersed women’s protests and formed an all-male government, though initially they would invite wider representation.
The world is watching closely to see how Afghanistan, under the Taliban government, can be different from when Islamic militants first came to power in the late 1990s. During that era, the Taliban enforced a strict rule for the interpretation of Islamic law. Girls and women were denied education and excluded from public life.
On Monday also, a World Bank-chartered Pakistan International Airlines plane landed at Kabul’s airport to evacuate more people, according to airline spokesman Abuulla Hafeez Khan. Pakistan has suspended commercial flights to Kabul for security reasons, and the airline has no plans to resume commercial flights as of now.
Last Thursday, an estimated 200 foreigners, including Americans, left Afghanistan on a Qatar Airways flight from Kabul in collaboration with the Taliban – the first such mass departure since the US military completed its frantic withdrawal on August 30.
Fearing what might happen under Taliban rule, thousands of Afghans are also desperate to get out. The Taliban have repeatedly said that foreigners and Afghans can leave with proper travel documents. But his assurances have been met with skepticism, and many Afghans have been unable to obtain some of the paperwork.
Kabul’s airport chief Abdul Hadi Hamdani said on Monday that all domestic flights had returned to their regular schedule, but that “some technical problems need to be resolved” before international flights can resume. Members of the Border Police who earlier worked at the airport have been called back to resume their duties.
Read more: Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid says he lived under the nose of his opponents in Kabul
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