The United Kingdom (UK) will co-host a high-level pledging summit with the United Nations (UN) next month to support the response to the growing humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan.
According to the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) donor countries, UN agencies and Afghan civil society are expected to take part in the virtual event. Pledges made at the summit will go towards the UN’s biggest-ever appeal for a single country, launched last month. The UN is seeking to raise $4.4 billion to help over 24.4 million Afghans needing urgent humanitarian help to survive. Half the country’s population is facing acute hunger.
The statement said that the summit would also aim at garnering international support to help Afghans access basic services, particularly health and education. Funding is channelled through trusted UN agencies and charities on the ground.
British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said that the conference is a critical moment for the international community to step up support in an effort to stop the growing humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan. “The scale of need is unparalleled, and consequences of inaction will be devastating,” Truss stated.
Truss said the UK was determined to lead the global effort. “We will bring international allies together to raise vital aid to deliver food, shelter and health services, protect women and girls and support stability in the region,” he added.
The UN’s Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Martin Griffiths thanked the UK for co-hosting this important event to mobilise international support for the humanitarian needs of Afghanistan. “We welcome donors from around the globe to join together to save the lives and futures of Afghans,” Griffiths said, and added that every day of delay means more misery for the Afghan people. “They need a lifeline,” Griffiths added.
British officials, including Nick Dyer, the UK’s special envoy for famine prevention and humanitarian affairs, visited Kabul last week for talks with the Taliban on how to respond to the country’s deepening humanitarian crisis. Also last month, the UK pledged £97 million in emergency aid to provide over 2.7 million people with food, health services and water. It brought the total pledged amount by the UK in the financial year to £286 million.
