Six Million Afghans At Risk Of Famine - United Nations

The UN humanitarian chief, Martin Griffiths has urged donors to restore funding for development in Afghanistan that was frozen when the Taliban took over a year ago.

The chief gave warning that six million people were at risk of famine.

Reported early Tuesday, Griffiths told the United Nations Security Council that Afghanistan faces multiple crises, humanitarian, economic, climate, hunger and financial, and that donors should immediately provide $770m to help Afghans survive the coming colder months.

"Conflict, poverty, climate shocks and food insecurity have long been a sad reality in Afghanistan, but what makes the current situation so critical is the halt to large-scale development aid.

“Poverty is deepening, the population is still growing, and the de facto authorities have no budget to invest in their own future.

"It’s clear to us that some development support needs to be restarted.

"More than half of Afghanistan’s 39 million people need humanitarian help and six million are at risk of famine.

"More than a million children are estimated to be suffering from the most severe, life-threatening form of malnutrition and could die without proper treatment.

"Female humanitarian aid workers must be allowed to work unhindered and securely.

"And girls must be allowed to continue their education."

Griffiths said $614 million is urgently required to prepare for winter, including repairing and upgrading shelters and providing warm clothes and blankets, and an additional $154 million to organise food and other supplies before the weather restricts access to certain areas.

Billions of dollars in Afghan central bank reserves, held mainly in the United States, have also been frozen by foreign governments to prevent them from falling into Taliban hands.

Russia, which called the UN Security Council meeting on the eve of the first anniversary of the US withdrawal from Afghanistan, and China have called for those funds to be released.