KABUL (SW) – The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has launched an online fundraising campaign for vulnerable groups in Afghanistan in response to climate change.
OCHA added that drought, the scarcity of underground water resources, damage to Afghanistan’s agriculture, and other factors are among the issues that countries need to take immediate actions to address.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said in the announcement: “With your support, we can provide the most vulnerable people with food, clean water, medicine, shelter, and other essential needs at a time when they are in greatest need.”
Officials at the National Environmental Protection Agency (NEPA) say that receiving OCHA’s aid could have a positive impact on reducing the negative effects of climate change in Afghanistan.
Ahmad Farid Farhang, spokesperson for the National Environmental Protection Agency, says that with OCHA’s efforts and those of other institutions, they hope suspended climate change projects in Afghanistan will be resumed.
He adds: “We endorse the OCHA’s statement that Afghanistan is the sixth most affected country by climate change. Afghanistan is indeed affected by climate change. We hope that climate change projects in Afghanistan, which are currently suspended, will be restarted, and we ask the international community to lift the suspension on these projects and allow them to resume their work.”
Save the Children had previously stated that the climate crisis in Afghanistan has worsened the humanitarian situation in the country. The organization added that since the beginning of this year, over 38,000 Afghan citizens—half of whom are children—have been displaced from their villages due to severe climate changes, seeking refuge in other areas.
