The spokesperson for Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs once again denied the entry of Pakistani military forces into the Wakhan Corridor of Afghanistan. Shafqat Ali Khan stated, “This region is part of Afghanistan, and we respect its territorial integrity.”
In a press conference in Islamabad on Thursday, January 16, the spokesperson reiterated that the Wakhan Corridor is part of Afghan territory, and Pakistan recognizes the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Afghanistan. Previously, former Pakistani Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Mumtaz Zahra Baloch, had made similar statements.
“Wakhan corridor is part of Afghan territory. There is no question of having any designs over any neighbours sovereign territory”, he said in his weekly briefing.
Recently, reports on social media claimed that the Pakistani army had entered the Wakhan region of Badakhshan and intended to declare the area part of its own territory.
The Pakistani Foreign Ministry spokesperson also called on the Taliban to take action against “terrorists” who have sought refuge in Afghanistan.
According to Ali Khan, Pakistan seeks good and strong relations with Afghanistan but emphasized that “the main issue is the presence of terrorist sanctuaries within Afghanistan,” and both countries are in contact through multilateral interactions on this matter.
Pakistan has repeatedly accused the Afghan Taliban of collaborating with and supporting armed groups opposed to Pakistan, particularly the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). However, Taliban officials have consistently denied these allegations.
The ongoing tensions regarding the Wakhan Corridor and the issue of cross-border terrorism continue to strain relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan. Both countries face a critical need for diplomatic cooperation to address these challenges and ensure long-term stability in the region.
As regional security concerns grow, it will be essential for both nations to engage in transparent dialogue to resolve their differences, particularly regarding border security and counterterrorism efforts.
Pakistan denies military presence in Wakhan Corridor, reaffirms Afghanistan’s sovereignty
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Afghanistan has warned of a potential rise in child malnutrition cases this year, adding that climate change in 2025 will affect the lives of hundreds of thousands of children in Afghanistan.
In a report published on Wednesday, January 15, OCHA stated that over half a million children in Afghanistan will face the risk of malnutrition this year.
The United Nations highlighted that climate change has already impacted the lives of hundreds of thousands of children in Afghanistan, emphasizing that this phenomenon limits people’s ability to provide food for their families.
According to OCHA’s statistics, around 22.9 million people—nearly half of Afghanistan’s population—rely on humanitarian aid for survival.
The organization attributes Afghanistan’s lack of progress and rebuilding efforts to an unstable economy, decades of war, natural disasters, climate impacts, and political instability and oppressive policies in the country.
This highlights the incompetence of successive regimes and governments over the decades, unable to effectively address critical issues, resulting in ongoing crises that continue to harm the country and its people.
OCHA also noted that unemployment and poverty in Afghanistan affect approximately 48% of the country’s population.
Afghanistan remains one of the countries most vulnerable to climate change, with thousands of lives already impacted by its consequences. The ongoing challenges highlight the urgent need for comprehensive international support to address both immediate humanitarian needs and long-term development goals.
UN warns of rising child malnutrition in Afghanistan
Several other UNAMA officials, including Indrika Ratwatte, the deputy head of the organization, also attended the meeting.
The acting head of the Ministry of Economy has called on the United Nations to focus its 2025 aid on development projects in Afghanistan.
Abdul Rahman Habib, the spokesperson for the Ministry of Economy, told TOLOnews that Din Mohammad Hanif, the acting minister of the ministry, and Roza Otunbayeva, the head of UNAMA, discussed the effective and transparent implementation of humanitarian aid in Afghanistan.
Several other UNAMA officials, including Indrika Ratwatte, the deputy head of the organization, also attended the meeting.
Regarding this meeting, Abdul Rahman Habib added: “The acting Minister of Economy emphasized that this year, international organizations should focus their efforts on implementing development projects to address the livelihood challenges of the people and reduce poverty and unemployment.”
Meanwhile, some experts believe that coordinating the humanitarian aid of international relief organizations with the Islamic Emirate is crucial for better implementation of projects. They see utilizing this aid for developmental and job-creation programs as highly valuable.
Abdul Jabbar Safi, head of the Kabul Industrialists Association, told TOLOnews: “As requested by the Ministry of Economy, this aid should be used to create jobs for the people.”
Abdul Ghaffar Nazami, an economic analyst, stated: “These organizations must provide the Afghan government with regular reports on their activities. It is the right of the Afghan people and government to know who these aids are being distributed to.”
Every year, with the arrival of winter, challenges such as poverty and unemployment worsen, increasing people’s reliance on humanitarian assistance.
Ministry of Economy Calls on UN to Focus Aid on Development Projects
A statement from Germany’s foreign ministry said that the Islamic Emirate must adhere to Afghanistan’s commitments to international laws.
Germany, Austria, the Netherlands, and Canada have urged the Islamic Emirate to remove the current restrictions on women.
A statement from Germany’s foreign ministry said that the Islamic Emirate must adhere to Afghanistan’s commitments to international laws.
The statement said: “We have repeatedly and urgently called on Afghanistan and the de facto Taliban government to meet all of Afghanistan’s obligations under international law and to lift all legal restrictions on women and girls. In particular, women and girls must no longer be denied the right to an education.”
“It’s been almost a month since they closed institutes to girls. I am one of the midwifery students. My request is that all women should be able to continue their studies,” Fazila, a midwifery student, told TOLOnews.
The United Nations Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) is one of the most important international documents supporting women’s human rights. The German Foreign Ministry stressed that Afghanistan is also a signatory to this convention, and the “Taliban”, after taking power in Afghanistan, must abide by it.
The statement from Germany’s foreign ministry said: “Together with Australia, Canada and the Netherlands, Germany has decided to hold Afghanistan and the de facto Taliban government accountable for violations of the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). By citing the dispute resolution mechanism referred to in the Convention, we have jointly called on Afghanistan to meet its obligations under the Convention.”
“One of the most important international documents for supporting women’s rights is the UN Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women. Under the current circumstances in Afghanistan, Afghan women are facing extreme restrictions. To remove these restrictions, this convention needs to be implemented to eliminate discrimination in political, economic, cultural, and social spheres,” Bahara Ataei, a university professor, told TOLOnews.
The Islamic Emirate has not yet commented on this matter, but it has previously stated that women’s rights in Afghanistan are ensured based on Islamic laws.
Countries Call for Lifting Restrictions on Women in Afghanistan
Muttaqi also stated that to support the private sector, the Islamic Emirate has recently allocated 33,000 hectares of land for industrial parks.
Amir Khan Muttaqi, acting foreign minister, in the fourth meeting between the Islamic Emirate and United Nations agencies in Kabul, called on the international community to continue assisting Afghanistan.
The acting foreign minister also stated that to support the private sector, the Islamic Emirate has recently allocated 33,000 hectares of land for industrial parks.
It was noted that economic stability, health and nutrition, education, livelihoods, food security and agriculture, combating narcotics, climate change, and issues related to refugees and internally displaced persons were among the topics discussed at the fourth meeting between the leaders of the Islamic Emirate and UN agencies at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The acting foreign minister said: “As far as the Islamic Emirate is concerned, all government institutions are committed to ensuring the security of organizations operating here. Similarly, we are committed to cooperation, transparency, preventing corruption, and providing travel facilities. We assure you that you can continue your assistance with confidence.”
Muttaqi also reassured foreign organizations that the Islamic Emirate is committed to the security of all entities and will provide additional facilities in terms of cooperation, transparency, anti-corruption efforts, and travel facilitation.
The acting foreign minister added: “Recently, 33,000 hectares of land have been allocated for industrial parks. Most small businesses have been exempted from taxes, and overall, the tax rates have been significantly reduced compared to the past.”
The acting foreign minister, in a meeting yesterday regarding his recent visit to the United Arab Emirates, stated that the UAE intends to allocate a support package worth $400 million in various sectors to Afghanistan in the current year.
Muttaqi Urges Global Aid in 4th Meeting With UN Agencies
Afghan citizens who fled the country with American assistance after the US’s chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan remain stranded in third countries, new documents shared exclusively with the Guardian suggest, some at prison-like facilities and many with no clarity about their prospects for resettlement.
US officials won’t say exactly how many Afghans remain at such sites, where they were taken after the withdrawal that involved hundreds of thousands fleeing for their lives during the Taliban’s lightning takeover in 2021. Some advocates estimate that “hundreds” remain stranded in temporary facilities in up to three dozen countries.
A set of government records published on Tuesday offers previously undisclosed details about the US government’s involvement with operations at these sites. The records describe family separations, deteriorating mental health conditions, inadequate facilities and fears of forcible repatriation.
The documents, which offer a snapshot up to the fall of 2023, were obtained by the Center for Constitutional Rights, Abolitionist Law Center and Muslim Advocates following litigation against the Departments of Defense, State and Homeland Security.
Sadaf Doost, an attorney and human rights program manager at Abolitionist Law Center, told the Guardian that advocates filed the records requests to seek information about conditions at a half dozen sites where they knew Afghans were being held. But the documents they obtained indicate that evacuated Afghans with pending applications to enter the US have been “detained, held, or otherwise forced to remain in limbo” in at least 36 countries, the groups wrote in a briefing guide.
“Other records we’ve obtained reveal letters upon letters of tireless appeals Afghan nationals made to US government officials – from detailing the lack of access to US embassies, lawyers and humanitarian and immigration-rights organizations to the untenable conditions to the collective trauma the community continues to endure,” Doost added.
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It is not clear from the documents how many of the 36 countries are housing the evacuees in holding facilities; the advocates say they know of five facilities in four countries – the UAE, Qatar, Kosovo and Germany. As of April 2023, records show that 2,834 Afghans with pending US applications were in Qatar, 1,256 in the United Arab Emirates, 259 in Kosovo, and dozens more in other countries.
The Departments of Defense and Homeland Security did not respond to requests for comment. A spokesperson for the state department wrote in a statement to the Guardian that US government efforts to resettle eligible Afghans have been ongoing since 2021. While officials process their cases, applicants are “allowed to be present on third country platforms with the permission of the host country”, the spokesperson said, with the US covering the costs. The spokesperson added that the US issued more than 33,000 special immigrant visas for Afghans in the fiscal year 2024.
“US government efforts to resettle eligible Afghans with a legal immigration pathway to the United States have been ongoing since the suspension of operations at Embassy Kabul in August of 2021. These efforts continue today.”
‘Seems cruel to me’
More than 1.6 million people left Afghanistan in the chaotic aftermath of the US’s announcement in July 2021 that it would leave the country after fighting a two-decade war there. In the final days of the withdrawal the following month, US officials coordinated a rushed evacuation of about 120,000 people to dozens of countries around the world.
More than 190,000 Afghans have been resettled in the United States since then, according to the state department spokesperson, but the newly released records suggest that many of those stuck abroad have pending applications to enter the US on humanitarian or other grounds. A different public records request published in 2023 by the American Immigration Council shows that from January 2020 to April 2022, only 114 of 44,785 applications for humanitarian parole – which allows individuals in urgent situations to enter the United States when they are not otherwise eligible – or less than 0.3%, had been approved. Officials are also currently processing more than 20,000 “special immigrant visas” applications by Afghans who worked for the US government, and have rejected about 40%, Reuters reported.
Little is known about what US officials have referred to as the “lily pad” sites where some of them remain. The term is also used to informally refer to foreign countries’ facilities with a temporary presence of US personnel. Some of the sites are makeshift, government-run refugee housing facilities, others are on former US military bases. (The department spokesperson said the sites were now referred to as “platform locations”.)
Human rights advocates have previously raised concerns about some of these sites, in the UAE, Kosovo and Qatar. In 2023, Human Rights Watch warned that up to 2,700 Afghans were being arbitrarily detained at “Emirates Humanitarian City”, a logistics hub in Abu Dhabi where Afghan evacuees had been “locked up for over 15 months in cramped, miserable conditions with no hope of progress on their cases”.
The group found that Afghans at that camp were subjected to around-the-clock surveillance and constraints on movement and denied access to legal counsel, visitors and journalists, while poor medical care resulted in sometimes life-threatening complications. Several people told human rights investigators at the time that they were not allowed to leave the site.
Other sites were no better, with reported suicides and hunger strikes by Afghans at processing sites in Qatar and Kosovo. The Kosovo site earned the nickname “little Guantánamo” among residents because those held there were told that if they left the premises, their applications for US resettlement would be thrown out.
In one case described in the documents, an elderly woman with dementia was brought to the US while her “caregiver” remained in the UAE, a state department official wrote in an email to colleagues, indicating that the plan was to move the woman into a nursing home. “Which seems cruel to me,” the official wrote. Another email exchange references someone who made it to the US while their “vulnerable mother and brother” remained in the UAE.
More than 17,000 people moved through the UAE site between August 2021 and January 2022 but fewer than 50 remain there today, according to the department spokesperson, who said that the US is “working with the UAE to determine resettlement options for the remaining population”.
US officials have denied in the past having a presence at sites where Afghans are being held abroad, but the records show they were involved in the establishment of at least some of them. The documents include agreements between the US and five countries – Qatar, Oman, Kuwait, Italy and Germany – detailing conditions for what the US called at the time the “temporary” relocation of Afghan citizens to these sites. In the agreements, US officials pledged to contribute to the “safety and comfort” of Afghans held in third countries, including providing for meals, medical care and educational needs. They promised the host countries to help maintain “order” at the sites, including by conducting “joint” patrols.
Such agreements were to be “short-term”, ranging from one month to under a year. But the records show that at least some were formally extended, in one case – in Qatar – at least through September 2023.
‘They made promises to prioritize Afghans’
Laila Ayub, an immigration attorney and co-director of Project ANAR, an advocacy group founded by Afghan American women to help Afghans resettling in the US, told the Guardian thousands of people who were promised pathways to special visas in return for their work with the US remain in Afghanistan or third countries. Many, she added, had grown so desperate that they have chosen to make their way to the US via treacherous routes through Latin America and the US-Mexico border. Others have returned to Afghanistan, despite the risks they face there.
“Decades of US foreign policy directly displaced many Afghans,” she added. “[US officials] made specific promises that they would prioritize Afghans and that they would give them a pathway, and we just haven’t seen that promise fulfilled.”
This week, a bipartisan group of more than 700 US veterans and current and former officials wrote a public letter urging the incoming Trump administration to preserve special visa and resettlement options for Afghans at risk, increase resources allocated to their processing, and protect them from broader immigration enforcement, which Trump has said would be his administration’s priority.
Shawn VanDiver, a US navy veteran and founder of #AfghanEvac, a group that works with the state department to help resettle Afghans and organized the letter, said that he fears that Donald Trump may shut down refugee arrivals like he did during his first term in office.
“We need a better wartime allies program,” VanDiver said, praising officials’ efforts to resettle an enormous number of people while noting that the process remains flawed. “The system is working as designed, but the system is designed to be difficult. It’s designed to make it hard.”
Afghans evacuated by US in chaos of withdrawal are languishing in foreign camps, documents reveal
India’s latest diplomatic outreach to Afghanistan’s Taliban government signals a marked shift in how it sees the geopolitical reality in the region.
This comes more than three years after India suffered a major strategic and diplomatic blow when Kabul fell to the Taliban.
Two decades of investment in Afghanistan’s democracy – through military training, scholarships and landmark projects like building its new parliament – were swiftly undone. The collapse also paved the way for greater influence from regional rivals, particularly Pakistan and China, eroding India’s strategic foothold and raising new security concerns.
Yet, last week signalled a shift. India’s top diplomat Vikram Misri met Taliban acting foreign minister Amir Khan Muttaqi in Dubai – the highest level of engagement since Kabul’s fall. The Taliban expressed interest in strengthening political and economic ties with India, calling it a “significant regional and economic power”.
Talks reportedly focused on expanding trade and leveraging Iran’s Chabahar port, which India has been developing to bypass Pakistan’s Karachi and Gwadar ports.
How significant is this meeting? Delhi has now given the Taliban leadership the de facto legitimacy it has sought from the international community since its return to power, Michael Kugelman of the Wilson Center, an American think-tank, told me.
“The fact that this treatment is coming from India – a nation that never previously had friendly relations with the Taliban, makes this all the more significant, and also a diplomatic triumph for the Taliban,” he says.
Since the Taliban’s return to power in Afghanistan, countries have adopted varied approaches toward the regime, balancing diplomatic engagement with concerns over human rights and security. China, for example, has gone far: it has actively engaged with the Taliban, focusing on security and economic interests, and even has an ambassador in the country.
No country has formally recognised the Taliban government, but up to 40 countries maintain some form of diplomatic or informal relations with it.
That’s why experts like Jayant Prasad, a former Indian ambassador to Afghanistan, are more circumspect about India’s outreach.
For the past three years, he says, India has maintained contact with the Taliban through a foreign service diplomat. India had closed its consulates in Afghanistan during the civil war in the 1990s and reopened them in 2002 after the war ended. “We didn’t want this hiatus to develop [again], so we wanted to engage. It is very simply a step up in relations,” he says.
India has “historical and civilisational ties” with Afghanistan, Foreign Minister S Jaishankar told parliament in 2023. India has invested more than $3bn (£2.46bn) in over 500 projects across Afghanistan, including roads, power lines, dams, hospitals and clinics. It has trained Afghan officers, awarded thousands of scholarships to students and built a new parliament building.
This reflects a lasting geopolitical reality. “Irrespective of the nature of the regime in Kabul – monarchical, communist, or Islamist – there has been a natural warmth between Delhi and Kabul,” The Indian Express newspaper noted.
Mr Kugelman echoes the sentiment. “India has an important legacy as a development and humanitarian aid donor in Afghanistan, which has translated into public goodwill from the Afghan public that Delhi is keen not to lose,” he says.
Interestingly, relations with Delhi appear to be easing amid rising tensions between Afghanistan and Pakistan. Pakistan claims the hardline Pakistani Taliban (TTP) operates from sanctuaries in Afghanistan.
Last July, Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Asif told the BBC that Pakistan would continue attacks on Afghanistan as part of an operation aimed at countering terrorism. Days before talks between India and the Taliban, Pakistani airstrikes killed dozens in eastern Afghanistan, according to the Afghan government. The Taliban government condemned the strikes as violations of its sovereignty.
This marks a sharp decline in relations since the fall of Kabul in 2021, when a top Pakistani intelligence official was among the first foreign guests to meet the Taliban regime. At the time, many saw Kabul’s fall as a strategic setback for India.
“While Pakistan isn’t the only factor driving India’s intensifying outreach to the Taliban, it’s true that Delhi does get a big win in its evergreen competition with Pakistan by moving closer to a critical long-time Pakistani asset that has now turned on its former patron,” says Mr Kugelman.
There are other reasons driving the outreach. India aims to strengthen connectivity and access Central Asia, which it can’t reach directly by land due to Pakistan’s refusal of transit rights. Experts say Afghanistan is key to this goal. One strategy is collaborating with Iran on the Chabahar port development to improve access to Central Asia via Afghanistan.
“It is easier for Delhi to focus on the Afghanistan component of this plan by engaging more closely with the Taliban leadership, which is fully behind India’s plans as they would help enhance Afghanistan’s own trade and connectivity links,” says Mr Kugelman.
Clearly, India’s recent outreach helps advance its core interests in Taliban-led Afghanistan: preventing terrorism threats to India, deepening connectivity with Iran and Central Asia, maintaining public goodwill through aid, and countering a struggling Pakistan.
What about the downsides?
“The main risk of strengthening ties with the Taliban is the Taliban itself. We’re talking about a violent and brutal actor with close ties to international – including Pakistani – terror groups that has done little to reform itself from what it was in the 1990s,” says Mr Kugelman.
“India may hope that if it keeps the Taliban on side, so to speak, the Taliban will be less likely to undermine India or its interests. And that may be true. But at the end of the day, can you really trust an actor like the Taliban? That will be the unsettling question hovering over India as it continues to cautiously pursue this complex relationship.”
Mr Prasad sees no downsides to India’s current engagement with Afghanistan, despite concerns over the Taliban’s treatment of women. “The Taliban is fully in control. Letting the Taliban stew in its own juice won’t help Afghan people. Some engagement with the international community might pressurize the government to improve its behaviour.”
“Remember, the Taliban is craving for recognition,” says Mr Prasad. “They know that will only happen after internal reforms.” Like bringing women back into public life and restoring their rights to education, work and political participation.
U.S. President Joe Biden, in a speech reflecting on his foreign policy legacy, defended the decision to withdraw troops from Afghanistan, stating it allowed his administration to focus on “more immediate challenges.”
Biden emphasized that rival powers like Russia and China were pleased to see the U.S. entangled in Afghanistan and said, “Nothing made our adversaries happier than seeing us stuck there for another decade.”
He reiterated that ending the war was the right decision and expressed confidence that history would validate his choice to withdraw U.S. forces.
Biden noted that he is the first U.S. president in two decades to not pass the Afghanistan war to his successor. He also highlighted that the mission’s goals, such as eliminating Osama bin Laden, were achieved.
According to Biden, al-Qaeda no longer poses a primary threat from Afghanistan, and there is no justification for a significant U.S. military presence in the region. He dismissed concerns that withdrawal would harm alliances or enable terrorist groups to threaten the U.S.
Republicans have criticized the withdrawal, arguing it damaged the U.S.’s credibility as a reliable ally and emboldened Russia and China. They claim the chaotic exit gave Putin the confidence to launch his invasion of Ukraine.
Biden refuted these claims, asserting that the U.S. continues to address global security threats effectively, as demonstrated by the killing of al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri in Kabul in 2022.
Despite Biden’s confidence in his decision, critics highlight the resurgence of terrorist groups like ISIS and al-Qaeda in Afghanistan. The UN Security Council has reported their reorganization and growing presence in the region, raising concerns about future threats.
The debate over the Afghanistan withdrawal underscores the broader challenges of U.S. foreign policy, balancing military disengagement with ensuring stability and combating terrorism. The unfolding situation in Afghanistan will continue to test these strategies.
Joe Biden: China and Russia wanted the US stuck in Afghanistan
The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), continuing its response to the detention of Mahdi Ansari, has called on the Taliban to drop all charges against the journalist and release him from prison.
In a statement released late Monday, January 13, the IFJ condemned the Taliban’s Supreme Court order sentencing Mahdi Ansari to 18 months in prison.
Mahdi Ansari, who was arrested on October 5, 2024, in the Dasht-e-Barchi area in western Kabul, was sentenced to 18 months in prison by the Taliban court.
The International Federation of Journalists stated that the accused Mahdi Ansari of collaborating with media outlets outside Afghanistan and conducting propaganda against the government.
The organization expressed concern over the “continued detention and harassment of journalists by the Taliban” and urged the Taliban administration to put an end to these actions against Afghanistan’s journalists.
Last week, the Afghanistan Journalists Center also reacted to the Taliban court’s ruling, calling the arrest of Mahdi Ansari and the charges of anti-regime propaganda against him “illegal and against the principles of freedom of expression.”
The Taliban has not yet responded to the reactions of journalist-supporting organizations regarding Mahdi Ansari’s detention. However, the Afghanistan Independent Journalists Union (AIJU) announced that efforts to reduce Ansari’s sentence in the next court hearing are ongoing.
The detention of Mahdi Ansari raises broader concerns about the shrinking space for press freedom in Afghanistan. Continued suppression of journalists undermines fundamental rights and limits the ability of the media to report freely and impartially.
International organizations and press advocacy groups must amplify their efforts to pressure the Taliban to uphold international norms on press freedom. Collective action is essential to protect Afghanistan’s journalists and ensure their safety in a challenging environment.
IFJ urges immediate release of Afghan journalist Mahdi Ansari
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) states that $279.7 million is required to provide health assistance in Afghanistan.
On Tuesday, January 14, OCHA announced through a message on its X platform that health assistance is planned to reach approximately 9.3 million people.
According to the organization, it is estimated that around 14.3 million people across Afghanistan will require healthcare services this year.
The report highlights that 53% of those in need of health assistance are women, while the rest include children and individuals with disabilities.
The United Nations has consistently expressed concern over the worsening healthcare situation in Afghanistan, especially in remote areas of the country.
Meanwhile, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) in Afghanistan announced on Tuesday, January 14, that the Japanese government has donated $1.5 million to address the needs of Afghan mothers, children, youth, and reproductive and mental health services.
According to the UNFPA report, this contribution will provide healthcare services to approximately 60,000 women, girls, and children.
Previously, OCHA also stated that in 2025, 22.9 million people in Afghanistan will require humanitarian assistance, and an estimated $2.24 billion will be needed to address their needs.
The ongoing challenges in Afghanistan underscore the urgent need for continued international support to prevent a complete healthcare collapse. The lack of sufficient funding and resources directly impacts vulnerable populations, particularly women and children, who make up a significant portion of those in need.
Strengthening global partnerships and ensuring consistent aid delivery can help mitigate the worsening humanitarian crisis. Collaborative efforts, such as Japan’s recent contribution, highlight the potential for impactful change when nations come together to support those in need.
UN requests $ 279 million for health services in Afghanistan