UK pledges $100m more in aid to Afghanistan
Qatar Tribune
dpa London A further 75 million pounds (100 million dollars) in aid is to be given to Afghanistan by the UK to help address its worsening humanitarian situ...
dpaLondonA further 75 million pounds (100 million dollars) in aid is to be given to Afghanistan by the UK to help address its worsening humanitarian situation, Foreign Secretary Liz Truss has announced.Truss said the commitment would help save lives and âsupport stability in the region.â It follows discussions among G7 foreign ministers in Liverpool on Saturday about what co-ordinated action can be taken in Afghanistan, along with how to engage with the Taliban rulers.The militant group stormed Kabul in a lightning advance in August, as 20 years of occupation of the central Asian country was brought to a close with a hurried allied withdrawal.Truss said: âThe UK is providing vital humanitarian assistance in Afghanistan this winter.âThe funds announced today will save lives, protect women and girls and support stability in the region.âWe are determined to do all we can for the people of Afghanistan.â The additional financial support will bring the UKâs commitment to Afghanistan to 286 million pounds this year.It will be used to provide support for victims of gender-based violence and to fund essential child protection services.The United Nations and aid agencies will prioritise those most at risk including households headed by women and disabled people, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said (FCDO).Officials said no funding would go directly through the Taliban, instead being funnelled through the Afghanistan Humanitarian Fund, World Food Programme (WFP) and other organisations.The WFP will receive 34 million pounds of the funding announced on Sunday.David Beasley, the organisationâs executive director, said the donation would âhelp us save many lives.â âWhat we are seeing on the ground is heart-breaking - 23 million people are facing severe hunger in a country crippled by drought, conflict and an economic crisis,â he said.âWomen and children are bearing the brunt of this suffering and, as the harsh winter descends, more and more are slipping into malnutrition and starvation each day.â This week the UNâs humanitarian chief warned that Afghanistanâs economic collapse was âhappening before our eyesâ and urged the international community to take action to stop âthe freefallâ before it leads to more deaths.Martin Griffiths said: âItâs getting more and more dire by the week.â The funding announcement comes after ministers this week faced awkward questions about the Afghan withdrawal effort following a whistleblowerâs evidence to MPs.Raphael Marshall, who worked for the Foreign Office during Operation Pitting, claimed just 5 per cent of Afghan nationals who applied to flee under one UK scheme received help as a result of the âdysfunctionalâ and âchaoticâ handling of the situation.Marshall told the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee that some of those hoping to escape were murdered after being left behind in Kabul.He also claimed British Prime Minister Boris Johnson requested that âconsiderable capacityâ was made available to evacuate animals from a shelter run by former Royal Marine Paul âPenâ Farthing, putting the lives of troops at risk to help aid their departure on a privately funded plane.The prime minister has called the claims âcomplete nonsense.â At the Museum of Liverpool on Sunday, Truss will have discussions with foreign ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, who are attending the G7 gathering for the first time - most of them virtually.The foreign secretary will stress the importance of working with south-east Asiaâs âeconomies of the futureâ to tackle the current challenges facing the West, the FCDO said.The invitation to Asian ministers comes after the UKâs integrated review on foreign policy announced in March a âtiltâ towards the Indo-Pacific, in a move seen as aiming to counter Chinaâs growing influence in the region.