Fund efforts to avoid humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan, UN chief urges

NEW YORK: Secretary-General of the United Nations António Guterres has Tuesday called on the international community to donate as much as possible for the impoverished people in Afghanistan ahead of winter advent in the war-stricken country, ARY News reported.

In his post titled ‘Afghanistan on ‘countdown to catastrophe’ without urgent humanitarian relief’, the United Nations incumbent chief urges the world to help UN in the race against time to deliver life-saving aid and pre-position supplies ahead of winter.

In his tweet earlier today, António Guterres minces no words in saying, “Afghanistan is becoming the world’s largest humanitarian crisis.”

Afghanistan is becoming the world’s largest humanitarian crisis.

We are in a race against time to deliver life-saving aid and pre-position supplies ahead of winter.

I urge the world to take action & fund our efforts in support of the most vulnerable.https://t.co/uJ3uzOi0Lb

— António Guterres (@antonioguterres) October 26, 2021

In a UN post that António Guterres tweeted, the statement by FAO Director-General QU Dongyu read, “It is a matter of life or death.”

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“It is urgent that we act efficiently and effectively to speed up and scale up our delivery in Afghanistan before winter cuts off a large part of the country, with millions of people – including farmers, women, young children and the elderly – going hungry in the freezing winter,” Dongyu added.

Separately, WFP Executive Director David Beasley noted on the situation, “Hunger is rising and children are dying.”

He said, “We can’t feed people on promises – funding commitments must turn into hard cash, and the international community must come together to address this crisis, which is fast spinning out of control.”