Raising IDR 8.5 Trillion In Aid For Afghanistan, Antonion Guterres: Currently The UN Can't Pay The Salaries Of Its Workers

Illustration of an Afghan citizen (Wikimedia Commons/Fahim Parwani)

JAKARTA - The United Nations (UN) held a conference to raise aid in Geneva on Monday as part of a way to raise about $600 million for Afghanistan, warning of a humanitarian crisis there following the takeover of the Taliban.

Even before the Taliban's seizure of Kabul last month, half of the population, or 18 million people, depended on aid. That figure will rise due to drought, cash, and food shortages, UN officials and aid groups have warned.

The sudden end to billions of dollars in foreign donations, following the collapse of the Western-backed Afghan government and subsequent victories from the Taliban, has added more pressure to UN programs.

Amid these conditions, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said his organization was struggling financially:

"Right now the UN can't even afford to pay its own workers' salaries", Guterres said, citing Reuters on Monday, September 13.

"We need to find a way to avoid a situation that would be disastrous for the people and, in my opinion, a source of instability, and action, a reward for the terrorist groups that still operate there", Guterres said.

The Geneva conference, which begins on Monday afternoon, will be attended by top UN officials including Guterres, head of the International Committee of the Red Cross Peter Maurer, as well as dozens of government representatives including German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas.

About a third of the $606 million sought will be spent by the UN's World Food Program under FAO, which found 93 percent of 1.600 Afghans surveyed in August and September, were not eating enough food, largely because they were unable to access food. to cash to buy enough food.

"It is now a race against time and snow to provide life-saving assistance to the Afghan people who need it most", said WFP deputy regional director Anthea Webb".

"We are really begging and borrowing to avoid running out of food stocks", he further said.

To note, the World Health Organization (WHO) is also trying to shore up hundreds of health facilities in Afghanistan, which are at risk of closing after donors withdrew.