KABUL (SW) – The United Nations’ World Food Program has 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.
Cindy McCain, head of the World Food Program, has said: “If we cannot provide funding for Afghanistan, we should leave this country completely.”
On the other hand, officials in the World Food Program in Afghanistan say that in the next six months, this program needs one billion dollars. Wahidullah Amani, the spokesperson of the World Food Program in Afghanistan, told Salam Watandar: “We need one billion dollars for the next six months to help 21 million people who need food aid. These aids include storing food in remote areas, whose roads are closed at the first snowfall.”
The World Food Program officials have said that the level of global interest in providing the funds needed by this organization has decreased and therefore the lack of funds has put this program in the worst situation in the last 60 years.
At the same time, a number of needy people in Kabul, who live their lives by receiving humanitarian aid, say that cutting off this aid will put them at risk of starvation.
Ghazi, a resident of “Shahrara” district of Kabul city, who has five children, says: “We need help, we have not prepared for winter, we have no wood or coal because how can we prepare when there are no facilities? We have many economic problems. In such a situation, we need more help.”
Rostam, a resident of Karta Nau district of Kabul city, also says: “I am the head of the house. My children are young, we don’t have a house, I owe three months of rent. Many nights there is no bread to eat for us”
However, a number of public policy experts say that the complete cutoff of aid from aid organizations in Afghanistan will have harmful consequences.
Niaz Mohammad Hamdard, a public policy expert, says: “If this organization leaves Afghanistan and all its aid is cut off, this will have a negative impact on the lives of those who are vulnerable and may cause illegal migration and even a humanitarian crisis.”
He said the government is not able to help the needy because it does not have enough budget and financial resources.
Mohammad Tayeb Najib, an expert on economic issues, said: “We cannot ignore the impact of these aids. The interruption of these aid has dire consequences for the people of Afghanistan, especially those who are unable to meet their basic needs and which are met by humanitarian aid.”
However, Abdul Rahman Habib, the spokesman of the Ministry of Economy, says that the ministry has plans to gradually reduce poverty and take care of the needy.
He adadded”Continuing assistance from the World Food Program in a transparent and responsive manner to vulnerable areas and people in need is effective in fighting food insecurity and improving the living conditions of our people. But focusing on practical programs and activities through the coherence of national policies and programs in different sectors is the focus of our attention.”
It should be noted that two weeks ago, the United Nations World Food Program announced that due to the severe lack of funds, this program will remove another two million needy people in Afghanistan from its aid list in September of this year and will be able to in the coming months only help three million needy people in Afghanistan with food. With this figure, the total number of people who have been deprived of World Food Program assistance this year reaches 10 million.
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