Taliban Official Urges UN to Keep Humanitarian Aid Apolitical in Afghanistan
Nuruddin Turabi, head of the Taliban’s Disaster Preparedness Department, has called on the United Nations to continue humanitarian aid to the Afghan people without the aid becoming politicized. He emphasized that given the extensive needs, international assistance should not be influenced by political considerations.
In a meeting with Bruno Lemarquis, Deputy Special Representative of the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), Turabi discussed expanding bilateral cooperation, coordinating natural disaster management, implementing development projects, and strengthening collaboration among aid agencies. According to a statement from the Taliban administration, both sides stressed increasing coordination to carry out long-term infrastructure projects.
Referring to Afghanistan’s high vulnerability to climate change, Turabi stated that alongside emergency aid, investment in preventive and infrastructural projects is essential. He believes such projects can reduce damage caused by floods, droughts, and earthquakes. He claimed that his department has completed or is currently running nearly 400 preventive and infrastructural projects.
He also said that humanitarian aid is distributed in a “transparent, rapid, and non-discriminatory” manner and urged aid organizations to coordinate with his department before designing and implementing projects. However, in recent years, some international agencies have consistently stressed the necessity of transparency, unhindered access, and preventing non-professional interference in aid distribution.
UNAMA’s deputy also noted in the meeting that humanitarian needs in Afghanistan remain vast, and the United Nations will, alongside continuing current assistance, strive to remove obstacles to implementing infrastructure projects. He warned that, given the likelihood of worsening natural disasters, greater preparedness to address these events is crucial.
According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), only 17 percent of the required humanitarian aid funding for Afghanistan has been secured since the beginning of this year. The reduction in international funding comes as Afghanistan is among the world’s most climate-vulnerable countries, with thousands of families affected annually by natural events across various regions.
