UN: Afghanistan stays world’s largest humanitarian crisis

KABUL (Pajhwok): Afghanistan remains the world’s largest humanitarian crisis in 2023 despite the recent devastating earthquakes in Türkiye and Syria, says a senior UN official.

The UN deputy special representative and humanitarian coordinator for Afghanistan said 28 million Afghans relied on aid for survival.

Speaking via video link from Kabul, Ramiz Alakbarov updated New York-based journalists on developments in Afghanistan.

Alakbarov said Afghanistan’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) had declined by up to 35 per cent while the cost of a basic food basket had soared by 30 per cent over the past 18 months.

Unemployment had increased by 40 per cent since the regime change in 2021 in Afghanistan, where roughly 75 per cent of people’s income was currently spent only on food, he noted.

A UN statement quoted Alakbarov as saying the world body continued to engage with the caretaker government on secondary education for girls and jobs for women.

“I regret to say that to date we haven’t seen any news or any encouraging developments with regard to girls’ education,” he explained.

However, he acknowledged the Taliban had made exceptions for women’s participation in the health and education sectors.

The senior aid official parried a question about divisions within the Taliban leadership over the education and humanitarian bans.

He urged the interim government to ensure Afghan girls and women had the right to be full members of society, including the ability to work, get an education and access healthcare and other services.

PAN Monitor/mud