Afghanistan’s economy is spiraling out of control and if the economy collapses, basic services will no longer function, and humanitarian needs will soar even higher, the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) warned on Monday.
Secretary-General of the Norwegian Refugee Council, Jan Egeland expressed concerns over economical challenges in Afghanistan, saying that the country is on a countdown to economic collapse.
Egeland is now in Kabul and will leave the country on Tuesday. His visit to the war-torn country comes after the collapse of the former government to the Taliban. Mr. Egeland is due to visit the displaced families and vulnerable people. He will also hold talks with the Afghan officials to discuss humanitarian assistance to the people of Afghanistan.
The formal banking system could collapse any day now because of a lack of cash, Jan Egeland, Secretary-General of the Norwegian Refugee Council said.
He voiced frustration over the lack of enough time to “save lives before the harsh winter arrives and temperatures drop to as low as minus 20 degrees Celsius.”
He said that hundreds of thousands of displaced people are in urgent need of shelters, warm clothes, and food. “Already, one in three Afghans do not know where their next meal will come from,” he added.
“Our own staff tells me they are struggling to withdraw cash to buy food or access their savings from banks, he continued.“We have been unable to pay staff their full salaries because it has been impossible to securely get money into the country. Imagine this situation multiplied for every employer across the country.”
“UN member states must urgently broker a multilateral agreement to stabilize the economy, fund appropriate public services and address the liquidity crisis. This means exploring new and existing mechanisms, whether by channeling international funding through UN trust funds or through humanitarian organizations as an interim measure. Otherwise, their promises to continue supporting the Afghan people will be empty.
“Donors must focus on providing fast and efficient solutions to delivering urgent aid for children, women, and men that simply cannot wait any longer. The country is on a countdown to economic collapse – we must support the Afghan people no matter what, ” Jan Egeland, Secretary-General of the Norwegian Refugee Council said in a statement.
According to Norwegian Refugee Council,
- Over 18 million people rely on humanitarian aid to survive.
- Some 664,000 people have been displaced by the latest violence since January, bringing the total number of internally displaced people to more than 3.5 million.
- 1 in 3 Afghans acutely hungry, according to the World Food Programme. Over 93 per cent of households consumed insufficient food in the past week, according to the latest WFP phone surveys.
- Fighting across the country has claimed the lives of over 40,000 people since 2009.
- The United Nations flash aid appeal for Afghanistan calls for nearly US$606 million to help people in need but has only been 20 per cent funded.
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