People of Afghanistan needs urgent support: UNDP Administrator

KABUL (Pajhwok): UN Development Programme (UNDP) Administrator Achim Steiner during a visit to Afghanistan has assured UN’s and international community’s assistance for Afghanistan humanitarian and economic development.

Steiner’s visit comes days before an International Conference for Afghanistan in Doha, the capital of Qatar.

“In the couple of days the international community will again meet to look at its commitment to Afghanistan and its people, the solidarity and also the financial support it can offer to desperately humanitarian situation of so many people in Afghanistan today.”

“But at the same time also to understand that the answer to these challenges is also to invest in the recovery of Afghanistan’ economy,” he said while talking to media persons here.

He said the people of this country need urgent support in order to be able to earn their own livelihood, to have income to buy food and to send children to schools to pay medical bills. So many people in the country are struggling to survive.

He added last year the political turmoil, Covid-19 and drought affected the country’s economy, turning more and more people into poor.

“We need to find solutions for addressing this. I have the privilege to meet yesterday with 30 to 40 women led enterprises, our collaboration with them through the women chamber of commerce allows us to understand first of all the particular challenge that women and widows face in sustaining their families.”

How their enterprises, smaller they maybe, create income and jobs in the way that we are able to support them in this desperate situation can make an enormous difference.

“We must maintain the international community interest, attention, commitment and conviction to provide the humanitarian support that is so critical to save lives in Afghanistan, a few days ago we hosted a pledging conference for the people of Yemen,” Steiner said.

“The pledging conference for Afghanistan is both an appeal to the international community to assist in this desperate economic implosion but it almost without precedent in terms of the shortage of the time and the massive consequences for Afghanistan’s economy, millions of people depends on that support and solidarity.”

Referring to the closure of girls secondary schools, Steiner said if there were technical constraint for training teachers they were ready to assisting them.

nh/ma

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