UN Special Representative reveals org's request for $8 billion in aid for Afghan in 2022

In the midst of the ongoing political, social, and economic crisis in Afghanistan, the United Nations Secretary General's special representative for the nation, Deborah Lyons announced on Wednesday that the UN has launched a request for $8 billion in funding for the war-torn country in 2022. During a UN Security Council meeting, the UN’s top envoy in Afghanistan said, “The approximately $1 billion that we asked for last year to address the humanitarian crisis now must be supplemented by $4.4 billion in additional humanitarian assistance for 2022,” Sputnik reported.  

Further with delight, Lyons added that the UN has unveiled the One-UN Transitional Engagement Framework for Afghanistan in Kabul, for which they have been asking an additional $3.6 billion. Following this, the overall request for 2022 would stand at $8 billion, as per Sputnik. 

The investment attempts would be used to counter the steady rise in poverty

Furthermore, the new framework will necessitate $3.6 billion in additional funding to assist healthcare and educational facilities, basic infrastructure, vital capacity for delivery of services as well as social cohesion advancement, with a focus on the socio-economic requirements of women and girls, according to Sputnik. 

Deborah Lyons, the head of the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), highlighted the fact that the investment attempts would be used to counter the steady rise in poverty, while also ensuring that essential donor contributions are neither misdirected nor abused, as per a UN report. In addition to this, she even anticipated that the Taliban would exhibit a commitment to a "pathway" for future engagement with the global community, given the understandable reluctance of donors. 

Lyons stated that the de facto officials have taken efforts to improve their ability to function as a country, which includes deciding on a budget that is entirely funded by their own resources. Despite the fact that senior Taliban leaders have interacted with representatives from ethnic minorities, broader involvement in governance structures has yet to be demonstrated. 

Since the Taliban seized command of Kabul on August 15, the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan has worsened dramatically. The suspension of international assistance, the blocking of Afghan administrations assets, and global sanctions against the Taliban have thrown the already impoverished nation into a full-fledged financial downturn. Meanwhile, indicating the situation, on January 26, UN chief Antonio Guterres warned that the global community cannot abandon the war-torn nation at this time, particularly thinking about the citizens and global security. 

(Image: AP/ Twitter/ @UNAMAnews)