Will aid reach hungry mouths across Afghanistan?

KABUL (Khaama Press): Light years away from the wealthy world, Afghanistan has been reeling under the worst humanitarian crisis. The financial crisis has engulfed the home of about 38 million humans in South Asia. Around 24.4 million Afghans are either hungry or in serious need of humanitarian support. Conflict, Covid and drought bit the war-ridden state bitterly. The humanitarian situation in the state was already in a bad state even before the Islamist hardliner Taliban snatched the power corridor by force. But the crisis has deepened since the Taliban’s return to power in August. The Healthcare system is pathetic. Prices of essential commodities are skyrocketing and jobs are disappearing. Moreover, the state is battered by poverty. Meanwhile, a cruel winter has settled, leaving millions of Afghans including minors without proper winter clothing.
The Taliban is desperate to get international recognition and aid to quickly mitigate a few of those challenges. But there is no clarity or credible move by the Taliban yet. The female children are kept out of classrooms, despite several warnings from the west. People are beaten and tortured. Human rights and fundamental rights of the citizens are not protected. People are living in panic. As a consequence, the west and even the South Asian neighbours of Afghanistan are disinclined to deal with the Taliban. The world is waiting and watching. Neither Pakistan nor her mighty mate China has officially recognized the government yet.
Afghanistan received aid worth $1.6 billion from the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) last year. The agency says $4.5 billion more will be required this year. The UN’s refugee agency UNHCR will pledge $623 million separately. A UN estimation suggests the crisis in Afghanistan demands at least $200 million a month to avert the disaster. The US has pledged about $474 million for the Afghan crisis earlier last year and announced $308 million in humanitarian aid recently. On the very day the UN urged for donations, Israel donated $500,000 for food, medical aid and other assistance for Afghan refugees in Tajikistan.
The Taliban in October 2021 started a “food for work” initiative. Under this drive, citizens will have to work as manual labour on public-works projects to receive the food grain or aid. The Taliban was paying about 10 kg of wheat per day to almost 40,000 labours. The wheat was mostly donated by India to the Taliban’s predecessor government. India in January delivered the third batch of medical assistance – consisting of two tonnes of essential life-saving medicines. Afghanistan has received almost half a million doses of COVID-19 vaccines and 1.6 tons of medical aid from India through the World Health Organization. India has committed to sending more medicines and humanitarian aid to Afghanistan. India however has not assigned a diplomat to visit Kabul. Fair and non-discriminatory distribution of aid is also a major concern for India. Taliban is accused of distributing foods and medicines only among their supporters and sympathizers. India is worried about how much of the aid will ultimately reach the neediest families in Afghanistan.
India was contemplating for a long time sending humanitarian aid via UN agencies but Pakistan was initially reluctant to give a route permit to reach aid from India to Afghanistan. India has finally inked a deal with Afghan transporters for thousands of trucks to carry the food grain from the India-Pakistan border. Iran has come forward to support India for sending aid to Afghanistan via the Chabahar port in Iran. Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian over the telephone with his Indian counterpart External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar extended the offer to help India in the transportation of food grains, medicines and COVID-19 vaccines to Afghanistan. The Iranian authority repeatedly underscored the necessity of forming an inclusive government in Kabul.
Pakistan has pledged $28 million worth of humanitarian aid to Kabul, including 50,000 metric tons of wheat, and supplies. Shehzad Arbab, Special Assistant to Prime Minister Imran Khan handed over the first consignment to Afghanistan at the end of December. France and Qatar air dropped nearly 40 tonnes of aid including medical aid last month. Russia airlifted 72 tonnes of humanitarian aid. Saudi Arabia’s King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center donated 65 tonnes of aid. Turkey is sending 748 tonnes of aid including food, clothing, blankets and medical items via rail. Germany in November allocated $693 million to support the crisis-hit statelet.
The Central Asian states have shown their interests to avert the humanitarian crisis. Turkmenistan sent food, fuel and garments worth $1billion to Afghanistan in December. Uzbekistan has provided 3,700 tons of humanitarian aid consisting of food, fuel and winter clothes. Uzbekistan also trucked 40 tonnes of core relief items from UNHCR to Afghanistan to respond to fast-emerging needs. In a virtual meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, Tajik President Emomali Rahmon, Turkmenistan’s President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, and Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, Kyrgyzstan’s president Sadyr Japarov emphasized common efforts to deliver humanitarian relief to Afghans. A delegation from Kyrgyzstan led by the Deputy Chairman of the Security Council Taalatbek Masadykov delivered a humanitarian aid cargo to Kabul earlier in September.
China committed relief worth $31 million in September, while Nepal for the first time in recent history donated 14 tonnes of aid to Afghanistan in January. At the OIC meeting in December, Bangladesh expressed its readiness to assist Bangladesh and announced a relief package. Japan has pledged a humanitarian package worth $100 million whereas Canada has announced $56 million in aid for Afghanistan. In December, the UK doubled its aid to Afghanistan and the region to roughly $380 million.
The US, EU-states and several countries including India have separately donated to Afghanistan in addition to international aid earlier. But now the process of direct donation is very complex. About half of cabinet members in the Taliban administration are on UN sanctions lists. The US-designated terrorists are given the charges of ministries in Afghanistan. Unless the sanction gets lifted, it’s not feasible for several states to financially support the Islamist extremist regime in Afghanistan. The US has restricted the Taliban from accessing Afghanistan’s reserves worth $10 billion.
Aid is essential and it should be kept on the top priority. Transportation of aid to Afghanistan via land routes of Pakistan, Iran, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Kazakhstan is the most convenient and economically efficient way. In the rough winter, many areas will remain inaccessible by air and road. The regional players should assure that the aid reaches the neediest ones. Rather than advocating for the Taliban, the mates of the Taliban must ensure the Taliban feed their people in a non-discriminatory manner. The neighbour states like Iran and Pakistan should extend support to the contributing states in Afghanistan, irrespective of their bilateral equations with the don’t state.