KABUL (Pajhwok): Afghanistan’s stance must be heeded at international meetings on climate-change, says the acting foreign minister.
The country should be given fair access to the Climate Change Fund, Amir Khan Muttaqi said in a statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA).
The more Afghanistan suffered due to climate changes, the more it needed international aid, the acting minister argued.
At a meeting with OCHA Director of Operations and Advocacy Edem Wosornu, he said Afghanistan was one of the countries most vulnerable to the destructive effects of climate change.
Wosornu expressed her concern about deaths and financial losses from recent flash floods in the country and said rescue teams would be dispatched soon to affected areas.
She also commended MoFA efforts for establishing a committee to improve coordination between the caretaker government and UN agencies.
Pointing to the devastating floods in some provinces of the country, Muttaqi said Afghanistan’s role in climate change was almost zero but still it suffered a lot as a result of its impacts.
He called on the countries behind climate change to accept their responsibility and initiate corrective measures.
Muttaqi said: “I would like to convey this message through you: Afghanistan needs as much support as it has suffered and its voice should be heard at international climate change meetings. This country should also have access to climate change funds.”
Although IEA is employing all available resources to help flood-hit people, the country needs more global aid, according to Muttaqi.
Looking at the scale of the natural disaster, he said, it was necessary for internationals humanitarian organisations to reach out to the affected people with a sense of urgency.
Deputy Special Representative Indrika Ratwatte said: “We have always conveyed your voice to the world that Afghanistan has suffered the most and is the most in need, and we have tried and are doing so that humanitarian aid and political goals are never tied to it.”
aw/mud
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