GENEVA – Donors have pledged more than $1.1 billion to help Afghanistan, where poverty and hunger have spiraled since the Islamist Taliban took power.
United Nations (UN) secretary-general Antonio Guterres, speaking halfway through a UN conference seeking $606 million to meet Afghanistan’s most pressing needs, said it was too early to say how much had been promised in response to the appeal.
After decades of war and suffering, Afghans are facing “perhaps their most perilous hour,” he said on Monday. “The people of Afghanistan are facing the collapse of an entire country – all at once.”
He noted that food could run out by the end of this month, and the World Food Program said 14 million people were on the brink of starvation.(Reuters)
