Afghanistan is in dire straits. Everybody, from President Joe Biden to U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, knows it. The statistics are grim, if not downright apocalyptic.

The World Food Program projects that nearly 23 million people, or half of Afghanistan’s entire population, will be food insecure this year. Over 8 million people are at risk of famine, and a million children could perish due to malnutrition and starvation. The Afghan banking system, propped up by foreign donations for the previous two decades, is on its last legs. Those lucky enough to have savings in the bank can only withdraw a certain amount, lest financial institutions in the country run out of cash completely. U.N. officials have consistently stressed that Afghanistan needs a major cash infusion to afford basic imports, keep the hospital system up and running, and pay public sector employees who have been working for free since the Taliban took over last August.