Humanitarian challenges persist in Afghanistan: Diplomat

KABUL, says an Afghan diplomat at the UN.

The challenges posed by terrorism and war caused a high number of casualties and disabilities among civilians, including women and children, the deputy permanent representative said.

Naifullah Salarzai, addressing the humanitarian affairs segment of the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), also referred to deliberate attacks on civilian spaces.

He denounced attacks on schools, hospitals, mosques and voter registration centres, incidents that have added to the worsening humanitarian crisis in the country.

“This year’s Humanitarian Affairs Segment comes at a critical time, one in which humanitarian crises worldwide are raising serious concerns about protection of civilians, particularly women and children in conflict…” 

In addition, he said, such situations are negatively impacting efforts towards achieving sustainable development goals. He called for joint efforts to reduce people’s humanitarian needs, risk and vulnerability.

As many 200,000 Afghans have either voluntarily returned home or deported from different countries in the last quarter. Salarzai said they were in urgent need of food, water, sanitation, livelihood and healthcare.

In mid-April, the Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock officially declared a drought. He said extreme dry weather and drought had affected two-thirds of the country and threatened the lives and livelihoods of at least two million people.

Two million more people could be affected by drought over the coming months, as migration has begun in some provinces. If conditions exacerbated, he warned, more than a million people might have to leave their homes.

Humanitarian activities in Afghanistan had received $129.3 million in funding, of which $98.2 million was for activities included in the Humanitarian Response Plan.

The diplomat called on the international community to fully fund Afghanistan’s Humanitarian Response Plan 2018-2021, which would help 4.2 million people with emergency humanitarian and protection assistance this year.

pr/mud

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