The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) says that millions of Afghans are in urgent need of food and medical care. The organization says it needs about $600 million in donations to help 11 million people in Afghanistan by the end of the year.
OCHA warns that supplies are running out and hopes international donors will act quickly and generously. The call comes in the run-up to a UN summit on Afghanistan, which will take place on September 13.
Since the advance of the Taliban in Afghanistan, more than half a million people have been displaced in the country. Before the takeover by the radical Islamic organization, many people already lived in poverty.
Now that the country seems to be becoming isolated internationally, the situation threatens to deteriorate. As a result, western countries that supported the previous government have now largely turned off the money tap.
UN emergency aid coordinator Martin Griffiths spoke with Taliban leader Abdul Ghani Baradar on Sunday about the impending humanitarian disaster in the country. Griffiths emphasized that the international community wants to help needy Afghans impartially. The Taliban assured the UN that aid workers would not be hindered.