Afghanistan Peace CampaignThe United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) says that budget reductions have inflicted the greatest impact on the humanitarian situation in Afghanistan.
The UN’s humanitarian coordinator announced in a press briefing that the organization’s humanitarian funding has dropped by 40% compared to last year.
Tom Fletcher, the UN humanitarian coordinator, stated: “It’s one of the crises, alongside DRC and Afghanistan, where the funding cuts are hitting hardest – less than 12 per cent of what we need. Afghanistan I’ve discussed here before. You know the challenges. I think I visited since I last joined you and went to Kandahar, Kunduz, Kabul. Of course, the recent earthquakes have then devastated nearly half a million people, claiming thousands of lives. Many homes destroyed, livelihoods decimated.”
In another part of his remarks, Fletcher expressed concern over the ban on female staff working with UN-affiliated agencies in Afghanistan.
He emphasized that the presence of female aid workers is vital to the delivery of humanitarian assistance in the country and said that pressure on them is unacceptable.
He added: “Our female humanitarian workers and the women that we’re working with in country are absolutely indispensable to the humanitarian response in Afghanistan, and it is intolerable that they’re coming under further pressure, further challenges in the work they are doing. We cannot do our work without them.”
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Economy stated that the reduction in the budgets of international organizations has negatively impacted their activities in Afghanistan and stressed the importance of continuing such aid.
Abdul Rahman Habib, spokesperson for the Ministry of Economy, said: “Removing restrictions by the UN and the international community, continuing emergency and humanitarian assistance, and expanding development cooperation that creates employment opportunities play a crucial role in stimulating the economy and alleviating livelihood challenges.”
Some citizens also shared differing opinions about the UN’s humanitarian aid to Afghanistan.
Khan Zaman, a resident of Kabul, said: “These funds mostly go to the UN’s own offices. The poor don’t receive much of this aid. There are no jobs either.”
The UN’s warning about the negative consequences of humanitarian budget cuts comes at a time when forced deportations of Afghan refugees from Iran and Pakistan are intensifying, and natural disasters over the past year have further worsened Afghanistan’s economic and humanitarian crisis.