UN Seeks Record $4.4B for Afghans Struggling Under Economic Collapse

MAR 31 2022·Updated DEC 26 2022

Story

Image credit: Hector Retamal/AFP [via Al Jazeera]

The Facts

The UN asked for $4.4B in humanitarian aid for Afghanistan on Thurs., as immediate action is required to prevent a starvation and malnutrition crisis.
The Diplomat
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres appealed to the wealthy nations of the world, saying that many Afghans had resorted to selling their children and their body parts to raise money for food.
PBS NewsHour
Since the Taliban takeover last summer, living conditions have deteriorated: women's rights have been stripped away, the economy is in free fall, and some 23M people face acute food insecurity.
ABC News
The number is considered ambitious by some, as the world's attention is on Ukraine and wealthy nations have frozen almost $9B in Afghan overseas assets to prevent the Taliban from accessing them.
Al Jazeera
A total of 41 donor countries have pledged nearly $2.5B towards the UN, but many of them have voiced concerns about growing restrictions imposed by the hardline Islamist rulers.
Reuters

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The Spin

Establishment-critical narrative

Instead of making Afghans beg for $4.4B in aid, the US should return the $9B they brazenly stole frrom its central bank. The US is starving the Afghan people to squeeze the Taliban for concessions. The brutal sanctions on Afghanistan are just another extension of the US empire's lust for global dominance and control.

Al Jazeera

Pro-establishment narrative

Though it may seem like removing sanctions would solve Afghanistan's current humanitarian crisis, it simply wouldn't. The US continues to be thoughtful with how it administers sanctions, and most of Afghanistan's issues stem from the Taliban's inability to to run an economy.