KABUL, Nov 6 (NNN-ANA) – The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) continued to provide food and winter aid for vulnerable Afghans ahead of winter, the agency said yesterday.
The statement came, in the wake of a two-day visit to Afghanistan, by the IOM Director General, Antonio Manuel de Carvalho Ferreira Vitorino, who expressed concern over a humanitarian disaster, in the mountainous country, if not prevented.
“Conflict and insecurity, grinding poverty exacerbated by an economy in freefall, severe drought and the COVID-19 pandemic, pushed Afghanistan to the brink of collapse… I am, however, profoundly concerned for the future,” Vitorino was quoted as saying.
He said that, as the bitter winter approaches, “there is a real risk that the deteriorating humanitarian situation will result in increased displacement, vulnerability and suffering, and that the modest social and development gains of the past two decades will be lost.”
“We are indeed in a race against time, as emphasised by the United Nations (UN) Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, to help these people prepare for winter. We are going ‘door to door’ to see what is needed and are providing shelter, blankets, warm clothing and cash for fuel and heating,” he said.
According to Vitorino, the IOM was planning to expand winterisation assistance to every Afghan province, to reach 200,000 people in need.
On Thursday, he met with the Taliban’s caretaker government’s acting Foreign Minister, Amir Khan Muttaqi, and pledged to provide food and other winter items for the Afghans in need, Taliban spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, wrote on his social media account.
Muttaqi assured the IOM official that Taliban authorities and officials will help the UN and other aid agencies, to identify eligible people to receive the aid, according to Mujahid.
Since the start of the year, over 634,000 people have been forcibly displaced by conflict, and about 5.5 million people have been displaced since 2012, in Afghanistan.– NNN-ANA