A source told AFP on Monday that the World Bank would consider a plan to provide humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan through the budget allocated for Afghanistan’s reconstruction.
The source said without elaborating that the bank’s management made the proposal at an informal board meeting on Tuesday to withdraw money from the Afghanistan Reconstruction Trust Fund (ARTF) “to support humanitarian efforts through the United Nations and the United Nations.” Other humanitarian agencies with logistics presence and capabilities will be discussed.
The United Nations has warned that some 22 million Afghans, or more than half of Afghanistan’s population, will face “severe” food shortages due to the effects of the economic crisis following the Taliban takeover in August and global warming drought.
Afghanistan’s financial crisis after Washington froze about $ 10 billion of its monetary reserves and cut off Afghanistan’s access to finance from the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund; It got worse.
The World Bank action is part of a compromise reached with the United Nations and the United States government that could transfer up to $ 500 million of Afghanistan’s reconstruction budget to humanitarian organisations, according to Reuters.
Under the plan, although part of Afghanistan’s blocked funds will be given to the country, it will bypass the Taliban and the group will not have access to the aid. The source told AFP that the next steps and timing of the donation would be the responsibility of the Afghanistan Reconstruction Fund (ARTF).
According to the source, the fund currently has 34 donors and is “the largest source of funding for Afghanistan’s development, providing more than 30 percent of the civilian budget and supporting core government activities.”
