UN Vows to Remain in Afghanistan as Last US Troops Leave
Voice of America
GENEVA - With the departure of international troops from Afghanistan, U.N. agencies pledge to remain in the beleaguered country and assist millions of people, many of whom are internally displaced.
The Taliban now is in charge of the country but there is no centralized government in place. U.N. agencies say that is problematic. However, they note they have been talking with the Taliban and other groups for decades about accessing people in need. Spokesman for the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs Jens Laerke says he believes that experience will allow aid agencies to gain the necessary acceptance to carry out their life-saving operations. “The armies have left but the U.N. is staying, and we are committed to stay. And that is what we have said from the beginning, and that is what we are doing. Just to remind you that we have already delivered humanitarian aid to some eight million people this year alone. So, I think that is simply a number that demonstrates that we are there to stay.”Palestinians gather at the site of an Israeli strike on a camp for internally displaced people in Rafah on May 27, 2024. Fire rages following an Israeli strike on an area designated for displaced Palestinians, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, in this still picture taken from a video, May 26, 2024. Palestinians gather at the site of an Israeli strike on a camp for internally displaced people in Rafah on May 27, 2024. A member of the bomb squad of the Israeli police collects debris after a rocket fired by Palestinian militants struck in the Israeli city of Herzliya on May 26, 2024.
Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili, right, and Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze, left, leave a podium after marking Independence Day in Tbilisi, Georgia, May 26, 2024. Demonstrators with Georgian national and EU flags rally during an opposition protest against a foreign influence bill as they mark their country's Independence Day, in the center of in Tbilisi, Georgia, May 26, 2024.