More than three dozen countries pledged roughly $2.44 billion for humanitarian aid in Afghanistan during a United Nations donors conference on Thursday.
The $2.44 billion haul amounted to a little over half of the $4.4 billion the U.N. requested, garnering support from the European Union, the United States, and the United Kingdom, as humanitarian conditions deteriorate under the Taliban’s control, according to Reuters.
“Some 95 percent of people do not have enough to eat. Nine million people are at risk of famine. UNICEF estimates that a million severely malnourished children are on the verge of death, without immediate action,” said U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
UN URGES NATIONS TO RAMP UP DONATIONS TO AFGHANISTAN AS SITUATION DETERIORATES
The U.S. was among the large donors at the conference, pledging $204 million toward aid.
“This humanitarian aid, like all aid from the United States, will go directly to NGOs and the United Nations. The Taliban will not control our humanitarian funding,” said U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Linda Thomas-Greenfield, according to the outlet.
The U.K. pledged 286 million pounds, or $374 million, ahead of the conference, and Germany committed to $220 million in funding, according to Al Jazeera.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
The humanitarian situation has “deteriorated alarmingly” since the Taliban took over last August, and the humanitarian aid will provide a “fragile lifeline for millions of Afghans,” Guterres said.
Last summer, Taliban forces took over the U.S.-backed government. The Taliban have since enacted a set of strict policies that the U.S. and other Western nations have condemned, including restricting women from flying alone on domestic and international flights from Afghanistan and reclosing girls’ classrooms hours after reopening them, among other policies.
