KABUL (Pajhwok): The international community has pledged $2.44 billion in assistance for Afghanistan during a pledging conference held in Geneva, according to a statement on Friday.
The aid will go to help nearly 25 million Afghans dependent on humanitarian support to survive. Afghanistan plunged into deep economic and humanitarian crisis after regime changes last year in August.
According to the UN statement, The US led the list of pledges at the end of Thursday’s conference, committing just over $512 million in aid, for 2022. Other leading donors were the United Kingdom with over $374 million, Germany, with just under $220 million and China, which promised a total of $200 million.
There were a total of 41 announcements of aid, including 15 pledges specifically for the Afghanistan Humanitarian Fund. Some nations, including Spain and Iceland, also committed to funding for Afghanistan, for 2023 and beyond.
As fund-raising has so far secured only 13 per cent of the requirements of the 2022 Humanitarian Response Plan, pledges of support – which will continue for the remainder of the year – are urgently needed to ramp up deliveries.
In the first eight weeks of 2022, humanitarian partners reached 12.7 million people with life-saving assistance, prioritizing women, girls and minority groups.
Deliveries have included nutritious food for hundreds of thousands of malnourished children and pregnant and breastfeeding women; healthy meals for schoolchildren; seeds and tools for farmers; and trauma treatment and reproductive healthcare.
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