GENEVA, September 14. The United Nations Central Emergency Response Fund will allocate 20 million US dollars to support humanitarian operations in Afghanistan, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said on Monday in an address to the participants in the donor conference on Afghanistan in Geneva.
“Today, we are announcing a $20 million allocation from the UN’s Central Emergency Response Fund to support the humanitarian operation in Afghanistan,” he said.
The UN chief recalled that the conference is tasked to raise 606 million US dollars in the next four months. At the same time, he stressed that efforts in other areas are needed to help Afghanistan. In his words, it is necessary to ensure humanitarian access to various parts of the country to deliver humanitarian cargoes from other countries, and therefore it is important to resume the operation of Kabul airport. “We need to be able to move aid workers and humanitarian supplies in and out of the country,” he said, adding that the United Nations Humanitarian Air Service (UNHAS) established “an airbridge from Islamabad into Kandahar, Mazar and Herat, with operations running since the end of August.”
“Much more is needed,” he stressed.
The UN chief also called on the world community to help protect the rights of Afghans, especially women and girls. “Afghan women and girls want to ensure that gains are not lost, doors are not closed and hope is not extinguished,” he noted.
Although Afghanistan currently needs urgent assistance, it also needs long-term perspectives. “The Afghan people will need our support over the long haul,” Guterres stressed.
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