Taliban Administration Urges Continued Humanitarian Aid in Talks With Red Cross

As millions of people in Afghanistan continue to need humanitarian assistance, the Taliban administration has stressed the continuation and expansion of cooperation in health care and other humanitarian areas in a meeting with the head of operations of the International Committee of the Red Cross.

Tensim news agency’s regional office reported that Amir Khan Muttaqi, acting foreign minister of the Taliban administration, discussed Afghanistan’s humanitarian needs with Yasmine Praz Desimaz, head of operations at the International Committee of the Red Cross. According to a statement from the Taliban administration’s foreign ministry, the meeting covered the rising number of returning migrants, health services, and the problems and needs left over from the war period.

According to the Taliban administration, Muttaqi claimed in the meeting that Afghanistan had entered a new phase of development, reconstruction and economic growth after a long period of war. He also said that some of the problems and needs of victims of previous periods remain and require attention.

The two sides also emphasized greater cooperation and coordination to better understand Afghanistan’s needs and to continue cooperation in the health sector and other humanitarian areas.

According to United Nations estimates, 21.9 million people in Afghanistan need humanitarian assistance to survive, and due to a shortage of funding, only 17.5 million have been targeted to receive aid. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, OCHA, has requested $1.71 billion to respond to Afghanistan’s humanitarian crisis, but so far only $269 million, or 16 percent of the funding, has been secured.

The International Committee of the Red Cross is one of the major relief organizations in Afghanistan, working in health services, support for war victims and meeting urgent humanitarian needs.