The United Nations Office at Geneva
Multimedia Newsroom
Edited News | UNHCR , OCHA , WFP
UNOG Bi-weekly press briefing: Afghanistan Humanitarian Crises UNHCR - OCHA - WFP 13 August 2021
Fast-moving Afghanistan crisis ‘has hallmarks of humanitarian catastrophe’
Afghanistan is on course to witness its highest number of documented civilian casualties in a single year since records began, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) said on Friday.
As widespread fighting intensifies, the UN agency said that it was particularly concerned about the impact of the conflict on women and girls as “80 per cent of nearly 250,0000 Afghans forced to flee since the end of May are women and children” said UNHCR spokesperson Shabia Mantoo.
“This is a staggering statistic,” Ms. Mantoo told journalists from UN Geneva. “We need to raise the alarm about the disproportionate toll they are paying for what is happening on the ground.”
According to a report published last month jointly by the UN human rights office (OHCHR) and the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), more women and children were killed and wounded in the first half of 2021 than in the first six months of any year since records began in 2009.
Echoing fears about the impact of the fighting on civilians, World Food Programme (WFP) spokesperson Tomson Phiri explained that the conflict “has accelerated much faster than we all anticipated and the situation has all the hallmarks of a humanitarian catastrophe”.
According to the latest reports, Taliban forces captured another three provincial capitals in the country's south on Friday and are gradually encircling Kabul. The insurgents now control more than two-thirds of the country, only weeks before the planned withdraw of US and international troops.
The latest US military intelligence assessment suggests that the Afghan capital could come under insurgent pressure within 30 days.
As widespread fighting intensifies, meanwhile, thousands of Afghans have fled their homes amid fears the Taliban would again impose a brutal, repressive government.
Humanitarians are particularly concerned that the fighting is increasingly shifting to crowded urban areas, while UNHCR’s Shabia Mantoo noted that nearly 120,000 Afghans had fled from rural areas and provincial towns to Kabul province since the beginning of the year.
The increasing number of civilians seeking shelter in towns and cities meant that “a growing number …do not have a place to sleep”, said Jens Laerke, spokesperson for UN humanitarian coordination office, OCHA. “Normally they would go to family and friends for shelter, but this is no longer the case.”
A spike in trauma cases has also been reported, aggravated by the recent escalation in violence. According to the World Health Organization (WHO) healthcare centres have seen a 30 per cent increase in patients compared to last year, with numbers almost doubling in the last two to three months, said WHO spokesperson Fadela Chaib.
The fighting has also created new challenges in reaching communities in need of food assistance around the country, warned the World Food Programme (WFP). “Aid workers are working under extraordinary circumstances,” said spokesperson Tomson Phiri, who noted that 18.4 million people already require humanitarian assistance, while the conflict has displaced up to 390,000 people this year alone.
In the last three months, WFP has provided food and nutrition assistance to 4.1 million people, Mr Phiri said, but this is not enough.
“Our plan is to scale-up assistance to reach nine million people by December,” he said. However, the UN agency is “severely under-resourced” and is needs $200 million “to get us through to the end of the year...to ensure food is where it’s needed when it’s needed.”
Reiterating the UN’s commitment to helping the people of Afghanistan, OCHA’s Jens Laerke insisted that the organization intended “to stay and deliver”.
UNHCR’s Shabia Mantoo, meanwhile, urged the international community to step up its response to this latest Afghanistan displacement crisis, appealing to neighbouring countries to “keep their borders open”, as an “inability to seek safety may risk innumerable civilian lives”.
Countries hosting Afghans who may have international protection needs should also ensure that they can seek safety, “regardless of their current legal status”, the UNHCR spokesperson insisted.
ends
STORY: AFGHANISTAN HUMANITARIAN CRISIS UNHCR - OCHA- WFP
TRT: 02:50”
SOURCE: UNTV CH
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
ASPECT RATIO: 16:9
DATELINE: 13 August 2021, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
SHOTLIST
1.Exterior shot, United Nations building
- Wide shot, panel at press briefing
- SOUNDBITE: (ENGLISH) Shabia Mantoo, spokesperson, UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR): “The human toll of spiralling hostilities is immense. The United Nations Assistance Mission has warned that without a significant de-escalation in violence, Afghanistan is on course to witness the highest ever number of documented civilian casualties in a single year since the UN’s records began. We are particularly worried about the impact of the conflict on women and girls. Some 80 per cent of nearly a quarter of a million Afghans forced to flee since the end of May are women and children.”
- Wide shot, panel at press briefing
- SOUNDBITE: (ENGLISH) Shabia Mantoo, spokesperson, UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR): “This is a staggering statistic; 80 per cent of those fleeing are women, children, babies among them, it’s a dire situation and we are urging, and this is why it so important that they, the situation needs attention, these people need support. The situation is very fluid and volatile.”
6.Close of spokesperson on screen
- SOUNDBITE: (ENGLISH) Shabia Mantoo, spokesperson, UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR): What we …have continued to raise the alarm and have been reporting is that disproportionate toll, including women and children, the most vulnerable are really paying for what’s happening on the ground.”
- Wide of journalists in press briefing
- SOUNDBITE: (ENGLISH) Shabia Mantoo, spokesperson, UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR): “The overwhelming majority of Afghans forced to flee remain within the country, as close to their homes as fighting will allow. Since the beginning of this year, nearly 120,000 Afghans have fled from rural areas and provincial towns to Kabul province.”
- Close of journalist
- SOUNDBITE: (ENGLISH) Tomson Phiri, spokesperson, World Food Programme (WFP): “The conflict has accelerated much faster than we all anticipated. The situation has all the hallmarks of a humanitarian catastrophe.”
- Wide of panel at briefing
- SOUNDBITE: (ENGLISH) Fadela Chaib, spokesperson, World Health Organization (WHO): “One of the major health concerns for the World Health Organization is trauma, that is aggravated by the recent escalation in violence, the trauma cases that we see at health facilities, we don’t know what’s happening in the communities, have increased by 30 per cent.”
13.Wide of briefing room
- SOUNDBITE: (ENGLISH) Jens Laerke, spokesperson, UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA): “The deal we have in Afghanistan is with the Afghan people, with the civilians, and we are there to stay and help them.”
- Close shot, journalist typing
- SOUNDBITE: (ENGLISH) Jens Laerke, spokesperson, UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA): “Typically, IDPs who have come into major urban centres in the past have been able to find families and friends where they could get shelter. This is no longer the case. They are sleeping in the open in parks and public places. We are assessing their needs. We are in contact with them.”
17.Close of journalist listening to briefing
- Mid of journalist
- Mid of journalist
Similar Stories
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
At the bi-weekly press conference in Geneva, Thameen Al-Kheetan, spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, and Danielle Bell, head of UN Human Rights’ Ukraine team, spoke of the deepening impact of the war on the civilian population.
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
At the bi-weekly press briefing in Geneva, UN Human Rights Spokesperson Thameen Al-Kheetan made the following remarks Intensified Israeli attacks in Gaza.
1
1
1
Edited News | WHO
DR Congo: Ebola outbreak continues to expand, WHO sees signs of stabilization
In the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), UN health teams and partners are still racing to contain the rapidly expanding Ebola outbreak, despite ongoing insecurity in eastern areas where the virus has taken hold. As of 19 July, the DRC Government has recorded 2,423 confirmed cases, including 967 deaths and 469 patient recoveries.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Human Rights spokeperson Jeremy Laurence appealed for calm in Pakistan-Administered Kashmir amid a wave of unrest ahead of regional elections at the end of the month.
1
1
1
Edited News | WFP
UN humanitarians working in war-torn Sudan warned on Friday of growing dramatic needs among the more than 100,000 displaced people now sheltering in camps in the city of El Obeid. "We are providing even not the full food ration to the people, but even that reduced food ration is being shared by the recipients with other families, because they know that they don't have any other source of income," said World Food Programme (WFP) Sudan Country Director Abdallah Alwardat.
1
1
1
Edited News | WHO
‘This is a fire’: DRC Ebola outbreak is fastest-growing ever, warns WHO
Infections of the Bundibugyo species of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) have reached record highs and a majority of new cases are coming from “unknown chains of transmission”, the World Health Organization (WHO) warned on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | WHO
In war-torn Sudan, a deadly new cholera outbreak has already claimed more than 100 lives, heightening serious concerns for vulnerable communities including in besieged El-Obeid, where daily drone attacks reportedly continue to hamper aid access.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNIFIL
Ceasefire reduces violence in South Lebanon, but challenges remain as communities face devastation.
1
1
1
Edited News | WHO
Ebola continues to spread in DRC, death toll passes 500 – WHO
The outbreak of the deadly Bundibugyo species of Ebola in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is expanding, while the push to accelerate testing and identify effective treatment options continues, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday.
2
1
2
Statements , Conferences , Edited News | ITU , ODET , PGA , UN , UNESCO
UN chief António Guterres appealed on Monday for far-reaching, worldwide controls on Artificial Intelligence, as increasingly powerful AI chips that are designed for civilian use shift to the battlefield, where “killer robots” are already the norm.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk addressed the 62nd Human Rights Council during the Interactive Dialogue on Ukraine.
1
1
1
Edited News | WMO
More blistering heatwaves and other weather extremes are increasingly likely across the world now and in coming months linked to strengthening El Niño conditions in the tropical Pacific, the UN World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said on Friday.