Around four out ten Afghans are suffering from hunger on a daily basis, an estimate by the United Nations said on Wednesday. The UN also estimates that the country is in urgent need of $1.3 billion in humanitarian assistance. 

According to a report on TOLOnews, Ramesh Rajasingham, the UN’s acting assistance secretary-general for humanitarian affairs, described the situation in Afghanistan as “concerning”. The continuous war and Covid-19 worsened the condition in the country. 

“Forty years of war and displacement, mixed with climate shocks and now COVID-19, have left almost half of Afghanistan’s population needing emergency aid,” Rajasingham briefed the stakeholders in a meeting.

By the end of 2019, the number of people in need was 9.4 million in Afghanistan. In the following year, the number got doubled, around 18.4 million. Around 17 million Afghans will face food insecurity by March 2021. The conflict and violence in the country have also increased last year. 

Describing the gravity of the situation, Rajasingham said, “Few other places in this world have seen suffering soar so quickly in recent times,” adding conflict and violence continue to kill civilians at an alarming rate, that too when parties to the conflict are engaged in peace talks.