UN warns of looming ‘humanitarian catastrophe’ in Afghanistan

The United Nations warned Tuesday that low supplies of food aid were threatening to plunge war-ravaged Afghanistan into a humanitarian disaster once winter arrives.

Since the Taliban swept into power in Afghanistan 10 days ago, the UN’s World Food Programme said it had managed to bring 600 metric tonnes of food and 16 new trucks into the country to scale up preparations to assist families through the harsh winter.

But WFP’s deputy regional director Anthea Webb told reporters in Geneva that the agency was running out of time to get aid to where it needs to go.

Usually at this time of year, WFP would be prepositioning food stocks across the country and distributing it to needy families before they are cut off by heavy snow.

But faced with tight funding levels and soaring needs, it said this year is it facing the threat of running out of wheat flour — its core supply — from October.

“We have only a few short weeks to secure the necessary donor funding and get food in place before mountain passes are blocked by snow,” Webb said.

Once the snow sets in, it will be too late to help, she warned.

Any further delay in WFP’s preparations could be deadly, Webb cautioned, saying the agency needed $200 million immediately to deliver lifesaving assistance “before it’s too late”.

“A humanitarian catastrophe awaits the people of Afghanistan this winter unless the global community makes their lives a priority.”

WFP has warned that one-third of Afghanistan’s population — 14 million people — is already at risk of severe or acute hunger.

The dire assessment comes as humanitarian organisations fear the Taliban’s arrival could hamper access for aid deliveries and personnel.

The country is also facing its second severe drought in three years and the socioeconomic impacts of Covid-19, on top of the aftermath of the fighting and displacement of people.

Webb stressed that the agency knew how to prevent a hunger emergency despite the Taliban’s arrival, pointing out that it had been in Afghanistan since 1963, including during the previous Taliban rule in the 1990s.

She said the agency had reached 80,000 people in the past week alone, in addition to the five million reached since the start of the year.