Donors pledged $2.44 billion for Afghanistan for the year 2022, against the original estimated appeal of $4.4 billion, in a high-level pledging conference as the country faces an unprecedented humanitarian crisis, with 24.4 million people needing direct assistance to survive. 

Since August last year, when the Taliban came to power, food security levels have plunged at an alarming rate, leaving half the population facing acute hunger, including nine million in a state of emergency food insecurity – the highest number in the world. Malnutrition is on the rise, and livelihoods have been destroyed. 

The pledging conference, co-hosted by Britain, Germany, and Qatar on Thursday, fell way short of the $4.4 billion that UN Secretary-General Antonio-Guterres had appealed for Afghans, he said, are being forced to take extreme measures. 

“People are already selling their children and their body parts, in order to feed their families. Afghanistan’s economy has effectively collapsed. There is very little cash,” Guterres said in his address.

He said even international aid agencies, could “barely function” and local partners face even greater challenges.

This year's need soared almost three times in comparison to the last and experts have warned of resource crunches as Europe and most donor countries would focus on over five million Ukrainian refugees on their own land. 

(SAM)