KABUL (SW) – Saif al-Rahman, a resident of Kabul, is sitting on the side of a busy road in the city, waiting for someone to come and give him his shoes to polish. He says that he is the head of a family of four, and with his daily wage, not only can he not meet his family’s food needs, but he cannot treat his sick wife and child with that money either.
Saif al-Rahman added: “Many times we sleep hungry, two days ago I didn’t earn anything, I didn’t earn from my daily work and I didn’t even have the money for one kilogram of gas.”
Naeem, a daily wage worker in Kabul, is leaning against a wall and waiting for someone to take him to work. Naeem says that he manages to find work only two days a week. He added that he has received humanitarian aid four times from international organizations and wants this to continue.
Naeem said: “We used to receive humanitarian aid, but now it is not and it has decreased. We want humanitarian aid to continue.”
Meanwhile, the United Nations World Food Program has recently warned that if the program does not get the required funds, it will completely stop its activities in Afghanistan next month and leave the country. This program added that it needs one billion dollars for the next six months.
However, Antonio Guterres, the Secretary General of the United Nations, has emphasized the continuation of humanitarian aid to Afghanistan in the 78th General Assembly of this organization. He said: “70% of Afghan citizens need humanitarian aid.”
On the other hand, the officials in the Ministry of Economy, emphasizing the need of Afghan citizens for humanitarian aid, want the continuation of this aid.
Abdurrahman Habib, the spokesman of the Ministry of Economy, said: “All ministries have plans to improve people’s living conditions and create jobs for people, and there are ministries that have their own preparations to deal with people’s problems in emergency situations.”
Humanitarian aid to Afghanistan has decreased since women were banned from working in non-governmental organizations. However, an American official said in London yesterday that the US will continue its humanitarian aid to Afghanistan.
Elizabeth Stickney, a member of the spokesperson office of the US Department of State, added that due to the non-participation of women in the Afghan economy, the country loses more than one billion dollars annually.
It should be mentioned that earlier, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said that in 2023, the number of people in need has increased to 29.2 million.
ENDS
