Foreign Secretary is to pledge £75m of UK emergency aid to the Afghan
people to provide life-saving food, and emergency health services
as well as shelter, water and hygiene services.
This vital aid will go through the UN and other trusted delivery
partners and will help respond to the worsening humanitarian
situation.
The UK’s pledge follows G7 discussions on global crisis and
conflict situations yesterday (Saturday, 11 December), including
in Afghanistan, where the Foreign Secretary called for greater
international cooperation to prevent serious risks of migration,
regional instability and humanitarian crises.
Foreign Secretary said:
The UK is providing vital humanitarian assistance in Afghanistan
this winter. The funds announced today will save lives, protect
women and girls and support stability in the region. We are
determined to do all we can for the people of Afghanistan.
The UK support is part of the £286 million it has pledged to give
to Afghanistan this year. It will also be used to provide support
for victims of gender-based violence and to fund essential child
protection services. Aid agencies will prioritise those most at
risk including households headed by women and disabled people.
The UK funding will be channelled through the Afghanistan
Humanitarian Fund, World Food Programme, International
Organisation for Migration, United Nations Children’s Fund, the
United Nations Population Fund and International Rescue
Committee. No funding will go directly to the Taliban.
WFP Executive Director, David Beasley said:
What we are seeing on the ground is heart-breaking – 23 million
people are facing severe hunger in a country crippled by drought,
conflict and an economic crisis.
Women and children are bearing the brunt of this suffering and,
as the harsh winter descends, more and more are slipping into
malnutrition and starvation each day. The World Food Programme
welcomes this donation from the British people and Government
which will help us save many lives.
The UK continues to work with international partners to tackle
the humanitarian crisis, preserve regional stability, protect the
gains of the last 20 years and to stress to the Taliban the
essential need for Afghan girls of all ages to go back to school.
At a session yesterday on Afghanistan the G7 Foreign Ministers
discussed taking a coordinated international response to the
growing crisis in the country. Foreign ministers also talked
about how to engage with the Taliban.
Later today the Foreign Secretary will also have discussions with
Foreign Ministers from the Southeast Asian group ASEAN, who are
attending the G7 Foreign and Development Ministers’ Meeting for
the first time, most of them virtually. She will stress the
importance of working with Southeast Asia’s ‘economies of the
future’ to tackle the challenges of today.
