In what comes a major relief for Afghanistan, the World Bank has approved a decision transferring $1 billion from the frozen Afghanistan Reconstruction Trust Fund (ARTF) to United Nations' agencies and select international aid groups to support aid operations in the country gripped humanitarian crisis. 

The fund will be used for supporting sectors like agriculture, health, education, family programs in Afghanistan. The executive board of the World Bank has approved the proposal after receiving consent from donors to utilize the parts of the ARTF fund. 

The fund, the World Bank said in a statement, will bypass the interim Taliban authority and be routed through only through UN agencies and select international aid groups.

Prior to the fall of Kabul in August last year, donor countries used to fund over 70 percent of Afghanistan’s expenditure. 

The plan "aims to support the delivery of essential basic services, protect vulnerable Afghans, help preserve human capital and key economic and social services, and reduce the need for humanitarian assistance in the future," the World Bank said in a statement.

The World Bank froze billions in the Afghanistan Reconstruction Trust Fund after the Taliban seized power militarily last year to deny the access of money to the hardline Islamist regime. Over seven months have passed since the group came to power in Afghanistan, and yet no country has yet recognized the Taliban’s interim government. 

For almost two decades, the World Bank had been funding crucial sectors like health, education, and agriculture in Afghanistan. That stopped last August since the regime change, putting millions of desperate Afghans at risk. 

(SAM)