KABUL (Pajhwok): The United Kingdom (UK) has announced a new aid package of £25 million of life-saving assistance to thousands of drought-hit Afghans, according to a statement on Monday.
UK Ambassador to Afghanistan Nicholas Kay In an exclusive interview told Pajhwok Afghan News: “I am pleased today to be able to announce that the UK is funding an additional £25 million which is $32 million in humanitarian assistance to help those facing drought and the effects of it in Afghanistan.”
The envoy added half of this money would be providing non-food items shelter essentially tents, blankets, vital assistance to those facing Afghanistan’s harsh winter that will help probably a quarter of million or more Afghans.
The other half of the assistance, he said would be particularly for food needs, for cash transfers, for other basic needs and we expect that this will benefit 600,000 Afghans.
Ambassador Key said the effects of drought was being felt particularly hard in the west of the country and the UN had recently raised its estimates of the numbers of Afghan who are facing complex humanitarian needs to 6.6 million Afghans.
International Development Secretary Penny Mordaunt announcing the aid, said: “UK will provide vital food, shelter and clean water to Afghans affected by one of the worst droughts the country has ever faced,”
A statement from the British embassy quoted her as urging other donors to step up alongside UK and join the international efforts to support some of the world’s most vulnerable people and avoid a humanitarian catastrophe.
Mordaunt said: “This deadly drought is already affecting millions of Afghans, many of whom have had to leave their homes and livelihoods in desperate search of basic necessities.”
Today’s UK aid package of £25 million is new funding from the UK Department for International Development’s crisis reserve fund. It comes on top of £10 million provided to the drought response by DFID earlier this year, bringing DFID’s total spend on the humanitarian response in Afghanistan to £67 million, the statement said.
The aid package provided by the UK’s Department for International Development (DFID) as following:
- Provide tents and urgent relief items for up to 260,000 people who have fled their homes ahead of a bitter severe winter
- Provide 602,660 people with food or cash transfers to buy essential items, with a monthly ration of special nutritious food to prevent malnutrition in young children for every household
- Provide drought-affected people with access to healthcare, clean water and sanitation so they can remain in their homes over winter.
The UK is the second largest humanitarian donor in Afghanistan. UK aid is helping to build a more stable, prosperous country for all Afghans.
Pr/sa
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