Urgent call for humanitarian aid

More than half of the people of Afghanistan are facing severe levels of hunger," UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told a Security Council meeting.

"More than 80 percent of Afghanistan's population is dependent on contaminated drinking water," the UN secretary-general was quoted as saying by Al-Jazeera television. Afghanistan is facing the worst drought in two decades, putting 9 million people on the brink of starvation. The daily life of Afghans is caught in another cold winter with deadly winds and cold.

Antonio Guterres added: "I welcome the approval of the Security Council's humanitarian exemption from the UN sanctions system against Afghanistan. We must suspend the conditions that limit not only the Afghan economy but also the rescue operations. International financial assistance must be authorized to pay the salaries of Afghan public sector employees.

"We need to strengthen Afghanistan's economy by increasing liquidity," he added. We need to find other ways to quickly inject liquidity into the Afghan economy. The collapse of Afghanistan's economy may lead to mass migration from the country. It is time for the Taliban to expand the opportunities for their people and show their commitment to the international community. If we do not help the Afghans in this crisis, the region and the world will pay a heavy price. If we do not help the Afghans, the flow of drugs and criminal and terrorist networks will increase.

_{Source and Credit: UN, UN Security Council}