Taliban seek role of own officials with international representatives to coordinate aid efforts
Jan 12, 2022: The Taliban administration, which has gained control of Afghanistan, on Wednesday proposed a joint body of its officials and international representatives to coordinate billions of dollars in planned aid.
It was unclear whether the UN and foreign governments would support such an agreement as it would significantly increase access to international funding from the Taliban, whose officials have been ignored due to sanctions. The sudden withdrawal of foreign aid last year after the US hastily pulled out in August and the Taliban’s victory plunged Afghanistan’s fragile economy to the brink of collapse, with food prices soaring and widespread hunger.
Sanctions by the western world aimed at the Taliban also prevented the passage of basic supplies of food and medicine, although this has since eased after exemptions were passed by the UN Security Council and Washington in December.
On Tuesday, the United Nations asked donors for $4.4 billion in humanitarian aid for Afghanistan in 2022, and the White House announced it would provide an additional $308 million.
“The goal of this committee is coordination on a higher level for facilitating humanitarian aids of the international community and to distribute aid for needy people,” Afghanistan’s acting Deputy Prime Minister Abdul Salam Hanafi told a news conference in Kabul also attended by UN envoy Ramiz Alakbarov.
“We ask the international communities that they should use the government capacities for their aid goals.”
Foreign governments, facing warnings that the economic crisis could escalate and millions starve to death, are stepping up humanitarian aid but wanting to avoid government intervention. A spokesman for the Afghan Ministry of Finance said the joint body’s proposal would be discussed with the United Nations in the next 24 hours.
Al-Alakbrov, the UN secretary-general’s deputy special envoy for Afghanistan, told Reuters that UN agencies were already informing the Taliban of their need for assistance. Their first condition is access to the entire country, including for female staff members.
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