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Rome/New York, October 25 – Years of conflict, drought, economic woes and the recent accumulation of Covid-19 health problems have made Afghanistan home to one of the world’s largest number of people – nearly 23 million – facing severe humanitarian crisis as the harsh winter is approaching while funding available is “a drop in the ocean,” two United Nations agencies said as they launched an urgent appeal for help.

The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Food Program (WFP) said the 23 million Afghans facing dire malnutrition and hunger, including 3.2 million children under five, represented more than half of the country’s population. Globally, the affected Afghan population have needs surpassing those in Ethiopia, South Sudan, Syria and Yemen combined.

“It is urgent that we act efficiently and effectively to speed up and scale up our delivery in Afghanistan before winter cuts off a large part of the country, with millions of people – including farmers, women, young children and the elderly – going hungry in the freezing winter. It is a matter of life or death. We cannot wait and see humanitarian disasters unfolding in front of us – it is unacceptable!” said Qu Dongyu, FAO Director-General.

“Afghanistan is now among the world’s worst humanitarian crises – if not the worst – and food security has all but collapsed. This winter, millions of Afghans will be forced to choose between migration and starvation unless we can step up our life-saving assistance, and unless the economy can be resuscitated. We are on a countdown to catastrophe and if we don’t act now, we will have a total disaster on our hands,” said David Beasley, WFP Executive Director.

“Hunger is rising and children are dying. We can’t feed people on promises – funding commitments must turn into hard cash, and the international community must come together to address this crisis, which is fast spinning out of control,” Beasley warned. WFP said it expects operations to cost as much as US$ 220 million a month.

The two UN agencies said in their Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) report that more than one in two Afghans will be facing crisis (IPC Phase 3) or emergency (IPC Phase 4) levels of acute food insecurity through the November 2021 to March 2022 lean season, requiring urgent humanitarian interventions to meet basic food needs, protect livelihoods and prevent a humanitarian catastrophe.

The report also notes that this is the highest number of acutely food insecure people ever recorded in the 10 years the UN has been conducting IPC analyses in Afghanistan. Globally, Afghanistan is home to one of the largest number of people in acute food insecurity in both absolute and relative terms.

Following is part of the joint WFP-FAO news release:

Hunger spreads from rural to urban areas

The IPC report reflects a 37 percent increase in the number of Afghans facing acute hunger since the last assessment issued in April 2021. Among those at risk are 3.2 million children under-five who are expected to suffer from acute malnutrition by the end of the year. In October, WFP and UNICEF warned that one million children were at risk of dying from severe acute malnutrition without immediate life-saving treatment.

For the first time, urban residents are suffering from food insecurity at similar rates to rural communities, marking the shifting face of hunger in the country. Rampant unemployment and the liquidity crisis mean that all major urban centres are projected to face Emergency (IPC Phase 4) levels of food insecurity, including formerly middle-class populations.

In rural areas, the severe impact of the second drought in four years continues to impact the livelihoods of 7.3 million people who rely on agriculture and livestock to survive.

Current funding a drop in the ocean

FAO and WFP have been alerting the world to huge funding shortfalls and the need for urgent action by the international community before it is too late. Immediate financial support is now crucial to meet the most basic humanitarian needs as Afghans confront winter with no jobs, cash, or prospects, just as another La Niña event is on the horizon, meaning this year’s drought conditions are likely to extend into 2022.

To meet the scale of needs, the UN will need to mobilize resources at unprecedented levels. The UN’s Humanitarian Response Plan remains only a third funded. WFP in planning to ramp up its humanitarian assistance as we enter 2022 to meet the food and nutrition needs of almost 23 million people in Afghanistan. To meet the task at hand WFP may require as much as US$ 220 million per month.

Since the beginning of 2021, WFP has provided food, cash, and nutrition assistance to 10.3 million people, including malnutrition treatment and prevention programmes for nearly 400 000 pregnant and breastfeeding women, and 790 000 children under-five.

FAO continues to deliver vital emergency livelihood interventions at scale in Afghanistan, providing lifesaving support and cash assistance to farmers and livestock owning households who comprise 70 percent of the total population, so they can remain productive.  More than 3.5 million people will be supported this year, with FAO reaching over more than 330 000 in August and September alone

Amid worsening drought, FAO is seeking $11.4 million in urgent funding for its humanitarian response and is seeking a further $200 million for the agricultural season into 2022. FAO is now distributing wheat cultivation packages, including high quality and locally-supplied seeds, fertilizers and training. This campaign is expected to benefit 1.3 million people across 27 out of 34 provinces of the country in the coming weeks.

IPC Report brief can be accessed here & IPC Snapshot here.

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New York, October 6 – The United Nations Security Council was told that UN operations to bring life-saving humanitarian aid to 7 million people in Ethiopia, including 400,000 people living in famine conditions in Tigray, are seriously hampered by continued fighting, severe checkpoints along transportation routes and lack of cash to operate and pay relief workers.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged the 15-nation Security Council to support and unite behind efforts being made by UN agencies and partners in Ethiopia to bring urgent relief goods and medicine to the 5 million people in Tigray and 2 million in Amhara and Afar. The council is the highest body in the UN system responsible for peace and security matters.

Guterres said the Afar corridor is the only option to transport humanitarian aid to Tigray but access to the area has been severely restricted by official and unofficial checkpoints, insecurity and other obstacles and challenges.

“Vital fuel supplies continue to be blocked, as are essential medicines and equipment,” he said.

“Humanitarian organizations continue to lack the cash they need to operate and to pay their staff. “Access to electricity remains precarious. Millions of people are cut off from communications networks and vital services such as health care. Fighting in Amhara is another serious impediment to humanitarian access.”

“As a result of all these facts, life-saving humanitarian operations are being crippled,” he said.

He said UN officials and workers on the ground in Ethiopia have reported “increasingly alarming eye-witness testimony of the suffering, including growing accounts of hunger-related deaths” which are close to the levels of the devastating famine in Somalia in 2011.

“We are also seeing deeply worrying reports of violations of human rights abuses perpetrated by all sides. I am particularly concerned about chilling accounts of violence against women and children, including sexual and gender-based violence,” Guterres said.

“The country is facing an immense humanitarian crisis that demands immediate attention.

All efforts should be squarely focused on saving lives and avoiding a massive human tragedy.”

In his remarks the council, Guterres said the Ethiopian government’s decision to expel seven UN officials failed to follow a normal procedure and was “particularly disturbing.”

“This unprecedented expulsion should be a matter of deep concern for us all as it relates to the core of relations between the UN and Member States.”

The Ethiopian government on September 30 shocked the UN when it declared seven UN officials persona non grata and ordered them to leave the country within 72 hours. Five of the officials are members of the UN humanitarian affairs office and the other are representatives of the UN Children’s Fund and the UN human rights office.

Despite the difficult challenges facing the UN humanitarian operations in Ethiopia, the UN chief said the UN agencies will continue their work as mandated in the African nation and with local and international partners to support millions of people in need of humanitarian assistance in Tigray, Amhara and Afar, and across the country, in full accordance with the UN Charter and General Assembly resolution 46/182.

“I now call on Ethiopian authorities to allow us to do this without hindrance and to facilitate and enable our work with the urgency that this situation demands.” Guterres said.

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New York, September 30 – UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said an international response is urgently needed to prevent a catastrophic military conflict in Myanmar that would threaten other Southeast Asian nations.

“The risk of a large-scale armed conflict requires a collective approach to prevent a multi-dimensional catastrophe in the heart of Southeast Asia and beyond,” Guterres said in a report to the 193-nation General Assembly. “Grave humanitarian implications, including rapidly deteriorating food security, an increase in mass displacements and a weakened public health system compounded by a new wave of COVID-19 infections, require a coordinated approach in complementarity with regional actors.”

The UN has called for immediate humanitarian access and assistance to vulnerable communities such as 600,000 Rohingya Muslims in northern Rakhine state and over 700,000 others who fled to Bangladesh after a military crackdown in 2017.

Guterres called for an urgent, unified and international response to put Myanmar back on the track to democratic reform and for the immediate release of the country’s President Win Myint, State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi and other government officials who detained after the military takeover in February 2021. The military junta claimed that the general election in November 2020 that elected the civilian government in a landslide was marred by voter fraud.

Large scale protests against the military takeover were violently suppressed by military and security forces resulting in over 1,000 people killed and thousands of arrests and at least 120 people who died while under military detention.

Guterres welcomed the appointment of Brunei’s Second Foreign Minister Erywan Yusof in August as Special Envoy to Myanmar by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. The UN chief also urged the “timely and comprehensive” implementation of a five-point plan to facilitate a peaceful solution in Myanmar.  The plan called for ending violence, constructive dialogue, the appointment of an envoy to direct mediation efforts and a humanitarian aid package.

Just days before Guterres issued his Myanmar report to the General Assembly, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet in Geneva warned that Myanmar is heading to a nation-wide civil war and the military’s suppression of civilian protests may amount to crimes against humanity or war crimes.

Bachelet said in a report to the 47-member Human Rights Council in Geneva that clashes between the military and civilians have taken place more regularly whereas the country had not seen such violence in generations. The report covered the situation in Myanmar from the military takeover in February to mid-July and was based on interviews with over 70 victims and witnesses to human rights violations, as well as remote monitoring, credible open sources, and meetings with a range of informed stakeholders, UN News said.

“There is no sign of any efforts by the military authorities to stop these violations nor implement previous recommendations to tackle impunity and security sector reform,” Bachelet said calling for the urgent need for strong accountability measures. “The national consequences are terrible and tragic, and the regional consequences could also be profound.”

The report said there have been increasing fighting between the military and ethnic armed groups since the coup, displacing thousands, particularly in Kayin, Shan and Kachin State, where the military has carried out indiscriminate airstrikes and artillery barrages, killing civilians, UN News reported.

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New York, September 21 – US President Joe Biden pledged to work with the United Nations to build a future and uphold human rights for all in his first speech to UN General Assembly that captured the attention of world diplomats who met in person for the first time since the pandemic locked down the world almost two years ago.

The 193-nation assembly opened a week-long general debate on the world situation subdued by climate change’s devastations, wildfires, flooding and the Covid-19 virus that has killed more than 4.5 million people worldwide. More than 100 heads of state and government have registered to speak, but about 60 of them will deliver their speeches in pre-recorded videos.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in his speech opening the debate that the world is on “the edge of abyss — and moving in the wrong direction. I’m here to sound the alarm. The world must wake up.”

He said the lack of unity among the international community and mistrust between world powers have contributed to the current worsening situation.

“Geopolitical divisions are undermining international cooperation and limiting the capacity of the UN Security Council to take the necessary decisions.,” he said.

“At the same time, it will be impossible to address dramatic economic and development challenges while the world’s two largest economies are at odds with each other,” Guterres said referring to the US-China competition in world affairs.

“Yet I fear our world is creeping towards two different sets of economic, trade, financial, and technology rules, two divergent approaches in the development of artificial intelligence — and ultimately two different military and geo-political strategies.

“This is a recipe for trouble. It would be far less predictable than the Cold War.”

Biden said in his 34-minute speech that the world is at “an inflection point in history” but he said the US is not seeking a new Cold War.

“The future belongs to those who give their people the ability to breathe free, not those who seek to suffocate their people with an iron hand authoritarianism,” he said. “The authoritarians of the world, they seek to proclaim the end of the age of democracy, but they’re wrong.”

Biden said his administration intend to “compete vigorously and lead with our values and our strength to stand up for our allies and our friends.”

“We’re not seeking — say it again, we are not seeking — a new Cold War or a world divided into rigid blocs,” he said.

Biden said his administration is addressing all challenging issues, from climate change, the pandemic and global vaccines, which are on the agenda of the UN General Assembly. World diplomats are to attend other meetings on the sidelines of the assembly session with summits on climate and the global food systems.

“This year has also brought widespread death and devastation from the borderless climate crisis,” Biden said. “Extreme weather events that we’ve seen in every part of the world — and you all know it and feel it — represent what the secretary general has rightly called Code Red for humanity.”

On the pandemic, he said, “We need a collective act of science and political will. We need to act now to get shots in arms as fast as possible, and expand access to oxygen, tests, treatments, to save lives around the world.”

Before ending his speech, Biden urged the international community to work together for a better world. “Let’s make our future, now. We can do it. It’s in our power and capability.”

Speakers on the first day of the General Assembly included the president of Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro, whose country by tradition is the first speaker at every annual assembly session since the UN was established in 1945. Other countries include Maldives, Colombia, Qatar, Portugal, Lithuania, Uzbekistan, Iran, South Korea, Switzerland and China.

The assembly’s president, Abdulla Shahid of the Maldives, opened debate by challenging delegates to rise to the occasion. “There are moments in time that are turning points,” he said. “This is one such moment.”

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New York, September 19 – International institutions lack “teeth” to fulfill their missions and even those that have them like the UN Security Council have “no appetite to bite,” UN Secretary-General António Guterres said in a wide-ranging interview on current world crises.

He pointed out that the World Health Organization, which is leading the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic, has no power to investigate the origins of the virus and deal with giant pharmaceutical companies to obtain global vaccines for all countries

“So, we need a strengthened multilateralism, it’s clear that only cooperating we can solve the problems,” Guterres told UN News before the UN General Assembly is to begin the 76^th session’s general debate on September 21.  “But the institutions we have, have no teeth. And sometimes, even when they have teeth, like in the case of the Security Council, they have not much appetite to bite.” 

“We need a multilateral group of institutions network working together, because everything now is interlinked, and with more authority in order to be able to mobilize the whole international community to solve the problems that we face. “

The 15-nation UN Security Council is the highest political body in the UN system with authority to take action on peace and security matters. The five permanent members with veto power – the United States, Russia, France, the United Kingdom and China – are often divided on solving global crises.

Guterres said there is a lack of trust among the big powers in the council. “With this divide among the big powers, with this lack of trust, what we see is an environment of impunity, people think they can do whatever they want. “

The UN chief has issued an 80-page document called Our Common Agenda addressed to the General Assembly, which is a wake-up call on government leaders to take action against serious challenges threatening the world. He said the document helps to “detect the global commons and the global public goods that need improved governance and to work with member states to find mechanisms in order for that governments to be more effective for us to be able to prevent future pandemics, for us to be able to defeat climate change, for us to be able to address the dramatic inequalities in today’s world.”

Afghanistan

Guterres said the situation in Afghanistan is “unpredictable. We all want Afghanistan to have inclusive government.  What happened in Afghanistan, might embolden now, terrorist groups or other rebel movements to become more aggressive.”

“We all want Afghanistan to respect human rights especially of women and girls. We all want Afghanistan never to be again a centre for terrorists, to have a safe haven; we all want Afghanistan to fight drug trafficking, but it is difficult to forecast what’s going to happen. It’s still unclear what’s going to happen.” 

He said Afghanistan is facing an economic collapse and said the international community must find ways to inject some cash in the country’s economy. He said a collapse will have “devastating consequences in relation to the life of Afghans, and also provoking a massive exodus that, of course, will be a factor of instability in the whole region.”

World Health Organization lacks power to investigate Covid-19 origins

Guterres said the Covid-19 virus has defeated the world and it is still spreading in every country almost two years after with dramatic impacts on the lives of people, the economy and widening the gaps between rich and poor countries, between those vaccinated and those who cannot afford it.

“The world was not able to come together and to define a global vaccination plan, and bring the countries that can produce vaccines together, with the World Health Organization, with the international financial institutions, to then deal with the pharmaceutical industry and double the production, and make sure that there is an equitable distribution at the production. This cannot be done by a country alone; it needs to be done by all,” he said.

“The problem is that the multilateral institution we have now – which is essentially WHO – WHO has not even the power to obtain information about the situation. It does not have the power to investigate the origins of a disease.”

Climate change

“If you talk about climate, it is the same,” he said. “We are on the verge of the abyss. The truth is that our objective is very clearly fixed by the scientific community, that temperature should not go above 1.5 degrees until the end of the century.” 

“We are risking not to be able to do it, because countries are not cooperating among themselves. There is a lot of mistrust between developed countries, developing countries. There is a north-south divide that is making it difficult for all to assume commitments, to reduce emissions, in order to have a drastic reduction the next decade or two and reach carbon neutrality in 2050.”

“Power today in the world is still essentially concentrated on men and with the male dominated culture,” Guterres said.

Guterres said gender equality remains a priority for the United Nations but he pointed what he called a “central question, which is a question of power.”

“Power today in the world is still essentially concentrated on men and with the male dominated culture. 

And power is usually not given, power is taken,” he said.  “So, we need women to fully fight for their rights and we need men that understand that only with full gender equality, the world will improve and the problems we solved.”

“We need those men, to engage effectively in the fight for gender equality. And on this question of power in the UN, as you know, we have now parity, equal number of women and men in 180 high ranking offices of the UN and in the leaders of our teams around the world, because we feel that if in the organs where the power exists, there is parity, this will inevitably have consequences, down the line.

So, we must have the same in governments, we must have the same in parliaments, we must have the same in all bodies. “

“We need to have women and men in full equality where decisions are taken, where power exists, to make sure that we change this unbalanced power relationship, that is the result of centuries of male domination and patriarchy. “

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Geneva/New York, September 13 – The United Nations has received pledges of over $1.2 billion in humanitarian assistance for 11 million Afghans for the four remaining months of this year. The promised funds doubled the amount that the UN had sought to deliver urgent basic needs to Afghans suffering hardship, famine and displacement and it was achieved during a one-day conference held in Geneva with the participation of 100 government representatives and 30 regional and international organizations.

UN News said Martin Griffiths, the UN Emergency Relief Coordinator confirmed that more than $1.2 billion in humanitarian and development aid in total had been promised, incorporating both the appeal made on September 13 and the regional response.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the pledges represented “a quantum leap in relation to the financial commitment of the international community towards the Afghan people.”

“We are of course very much concerned in making sure that humanitarian assistance is an entry point for effective engagement with the Taliban in all other aspects of concern of the international community,” he said.

UN News said Guterres confirmed that the UN has received two letters from the Taliban, one dealing with the humanitarian assistance and the second one about security for relief workers.

“One was guaranteeing full humanitarian work of the UN and the respect by the Taliban to that full humanitarian work; and the second, that they are able to provide security and even escorts when there are situations of insecurity that would justify it,” he said. “So not only there is an attitude of acceptance but there is an attitude of support.”

“There is a clear interest of the Taliban also to engage with the international community and I think this is what gives also the international community some leverage.”

The UN said Afghan people have endured decades of conflict and deprivation and their vulnerability has not improved following years of drought, poverty and lack of basic needs and services. It said the country’s economy is grinding to a halt with cash in short supply while deep concern is rising for the rights of women and girls under the new regime.

“Afghans urgently need food, medicine, health services, safe water, sanitation, and protection. UN agencies and non-governmental partners have launched a Flash Appeal seeking US$606 million for the remainder of the year to bring vital relief to 11 million people,” the UN office for the coordination of humanitarian affairs said in a press release announcing the Geneva conference.

It said international and Afghan humanitarian organizations are on the ground and can deliver in the rapidly changing context. They need fast and flexible funding and sustained access into and around Afghanistan.

The flash appeal said fully funding would provide a “lifeline for millions of people in Afghanistan who are facing incredible uncertainty at the same time as the devastating impact of the drought is beginning to take hold, a harsh winter approaches, and the COVID-19 pandemic continues to rage.”

It is expected that 750,000 Afghans would be displaced internally throughout 2021 prompted by conflict, the Taliban takeover of the country, the withdrawal of US and other foreign troops.

In addition, more than 757,000 undocumented migrants have returned from Iran and Pakistan as of beginning of September.

The appeal said Afghanistan is experiencing its second severe drought in four years, which severely threatened food production, livestocks and rural livelihoods. It said 12.2 million people, or 30 per cent of the population, are facing ‘emergency’ or ‘crisis’ levels of food insecurity.

“The 2021 harvest is expected to be below average and the next lean season is expected to be more intense and arrive earlier, leading to further deterioration in the food security situation across the country. Initial estimates indicate that total wheat production will be 25 per cent less than last year. Long-term forecasts indicate that the drought will continue into 2022,” the appeal said.

UN News reported that Martin Griffiths, the UN Emergency Relief Coordinator, said in an interview in Geneva just before the high-level Geneva conference on Afghanistan that he hoped to receive written assurances from the Taliban’s Deputy Prime Minister Mullah Baradar that aid agencies and their partners will be able to operate freely inside Afghanistan.

Griffiths said he had met in Kabul with Afghans displaced by the conflict and turmoil that the flash appeal was designed to help them because most of the displaced wanted to return home and they would need money to pay for transportation and repair their damaged houses.

“Money well spent, you would imagine, if we want to stabilize the region and if we want to enable people to stay in Afghanistan instead of fleeing to neighboring countries and beyond,” Griffiths said. He said also he held talks with Taliban authorities.

“What they said to me was that, ‘We promise that the rights of women and girls will be respected’ – subject, they added, ‘to the religion and culture of Afghanistan.’ Now, this is a work in progress, and we’ve been here before. And so, we need to have a lot more discussion in the days to come, in the weeks to come about what that really means. And that’s very important for the people of Afghanistan, but it’s also important for the international community.”

 Griffiths, a veteran humanitarian who last negotiated with the Taliban in 1998 when they came to power, insisted on the need to have “a lot more discussion in the days to come, in the weeks to come” with them about how to ensure continued international engagement, amid concerns over the loss of women’s rights.

“This is what the Taliban themselves told me…they have come to power sooner than they thought, they are unprepared for this,” he said.

“Mullah Baradar, who is one of the top leaders of the movement in this new administration, confirmed support for all of those elements,” Griffiths said. “This is essentially a description of the humanitarian space within which agencies operate. He is now turning, at my request, those oral commitments into written assurances. And we hope to have that letter from him with us on Monday (September 13) here in Geneva.”

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