UK to co-host summit to raise $4.4B for Afghanistan

By Ahmet Gurhan Kartal

LONDON (AA) – The UK said on Tuesday it will “co-host a high-level pledging summit with the UN next month to support the response to the growing humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan.”

The virtual summit will see the attendance of donor countries, UN agencies and Afghan civil society, and the pledges made at the summit “will go towards the UN’s biggest-ever appeal for a single country, launched last month.”

The UN is aiming to raise $4.4 billion to help over 24.4 million Afghans in need of urgent humanitarian help, read a UK government statement, adding that “half the country’s population are facing acute hunger.”

The virtual event will also “aim to garner international support to help Afghans access basic services, particularly health and education.”

“The conference is a critical moment for the international community to step up support in an effort to stop the growing humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan,” British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said.

“The scale of need is unparalleled, and consequences of inaction will be devastating,” she added.

UN humanitarian affairs chief Martin Griffiths called on “donors from around the globe to join together to save the lives and futures of Afghans.”

“Every day of delay means more misery for the Afghan people. They need a lifeline,” he stressed.

More than half the population of Afghanistan – a record 22.8 million people – is at risk of acute food insecurity, according to a recent report by the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization and the World Food Program.​​​​​​​