Guterres: World Donors Pledge More Than $1Bln in Aid for Afghanistan
16:39 GMT 13.09.2021 (Updated: 16:53 GMT 13.09.2021)
© REUTERS / STRINGER
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UNITED NATIONS (Sputnik) - International donors on Monday pledged more than $1 billion in humanitarian aid to support Afghanistan grappling with an acute economic crisis after the Taliban* takeover, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said at a ministerial meeting in Geneva on the situation in the country.
“We already heard clearly more than 1 billion US dollars of pledges,” Guterres said.
Last week, the United Nations had launched an emergency appeal seeking $606 million in aid for Afghanistan.
UN Secretary-General warned on Monday that the possibility of an economic collapse in Afghanistan was very serious.
“It is serious,” Guterres stated in a press briefing when asked how serious the possibility was of a complete economic collapse following the Taliban* takeover.
“It is serious,” Guterres stated in a press briefing when asked how serious the possibility was of a complete economic collapse following the Taliban* takeover.
“The financial system at the present moments is extremely limited in its capacity which means that a number of basic economic functions cannot be delivered, and of course, for people, they had, as you know, the possibility to get limited amounts of cash but with enormous difficulties,” he said. “An economy doesn’t work without the blood and the blood of the economy is cash. I think it is important to avoid the collapse of the economy."
On Removing Taliban From List of Terrorist Organisations
The issue of removing the Taliban* from the list of terrorist organisations is up to the United Nations member states and the UN Secretariat will not interfere in their decisions, Guterres said on Monday.
"Those are decisions to be taken by member states when member states consider conditions are met for those decisions to be taken," Guterres said. "The Secretariat doesn’t intend to interfere with those questions because obviously interfering with those questions would undermine our possibility of action."
UN Secretary-General also stressed that it was crucial to engage with the Taliban* to address a number of concerns in Afghanistan, including humanitarian aid and human rights, as well as terrorism.
"It is impossible to provide humanitarian assistance inside Afghanistan without engaging with the de-facto authorities in the country," Guterres said during a press conference. "And I do believe that it is very important to engage with the Taliban at the present moment for all aspects that concern the international community: be it about terrorism, be it about human rights, be it about drugs, be it about the nature of the government. So, our attitude is to engage."
"It is impossible to provide humanitarian assistance inside Afghanistan without engaging with the de-facto authorities in the country," Guterres said during a press conference. "And I do believe that it is very important to engage with the Taliban at the present moment for all aspects that concern the international community: be it about terrorism, be it about human rights, be it about drugs, be it about the nature of the government. So, our attitude is to engage."
*Taliban is a terrorist organisation banned in Russia.
