G20 Summit: UN aid chief calls on world leaders to prevent mass starving in Afghanistan

In a dire message to the leaders of the world gathered at the COP26 meeting in Glasgow, United Nations’ humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths on 29 October warned that the Afghanistan humanitarian crisis has been deepening and that the conflict-ravaged Central Asian nation’s needs are “skyrocketing.” Kids as young as under the age of 5 are on the verge of malnutrition, Griffiths cautioned, adding that recently there has been a measles disease outbreak in every single province which, according to him, is “a red light” and “the canary in the mine”. In an interview, Friday with The Associated Press, UN’s humanitarian chief warned about the growing food insecurity across Afghanistan, and the famine-like situation worsened by the diseases, pandemic, battered economy, and deaths. 

With the “absent corrective action,” more fatalities in Afghanistan might be expected, Griffiths told AP. Furthermore, he said, that despite that the World Food Program is ensuring the adequate supply for over 4 million population, Afghanistan’s civilians are on the verge of malnutrition. Citing the horrible economic conditions and tough winters ahead, the UN’s humanitarian chief warned that the demand for food might triple those figures to about 12 million if the humanitarian needs in the territory were ignored.

World Food Program, as of this week, had appealed to the countries for $200 million donations to fund its humanitarian operations in Kabul, which remained suspended since the Taliban’s takeover of the province on Aug. 15. While Griffiths noted that the European Union had allocated close to 100 million euros to Afghanistan’s humanitarian needs, he appealed to the developed nations like the  United States to step up the cooperation. The US had announced more than $144 million in humanitarian aid this Thursday. 

Afghanistan struggling with 'one of world's worst humanitarian crises' 

United Nations humanitarian agencies and their partners earlier scrambled to scale up delivery of vital aid to the war-ravaged Kabul ahead of the upcoming winter season. Even before the Taliban's takeover of the territory in August, Afghanistan had been struggling with one of the world's worst humanitarian  crises , but the country's economic woes have now spiralled out of control. Just last month, a $606 million flash appeal was launched in an attempt to aid more than 10 million vulnerable Afghans, but only less than 40% of it was funded, according to the UN. Humanitarians have iterated that the funding pledges by the world's donors must be translated into reality "as soon as possible before it is too late". Since September 27, and throughout October, the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Afghanistan has assisted over 173,000 vulnerable people in Baghlan, Badakhshan and Kunduz provinces facing food shortages.