The United Nations Office at Geneva
Multimedia Newsroom
$667 million funding call to help Afghans through economic crisis -- UNDP
Afghanistan’s economy is imploding, with all but three per cent of households expected to fall below the poverty line in coming months, the UN said on Thursday. To help ordinary Afghans, the UN Development Programme (UNDP) has announced the launch of a “people’s economy” fund, to provide desperately needed access to cash. The fund will tap into donations frozen since the Taliban takeover in August. Germany has already pledged $58 million of the more than $660 million required over the next 12 months, said Achim Steiner, UNDP Administrator:
“There are 38 million people who cannot be kept alive just from the outside. We have to step in, we have to stabilise a 'people's economy’ and in addition to saving lives, we also have to save livelihoods. Because otherwise, we will indeed confront a scenario through this winter and into next year where millions and millions of Afghans are simply unable to stay on their land, in their homes, in their villages and survive.” UNDP is now in touch with other donors to mobilise resources, he added. "Discussions over the last few weeks have focused on how we do find a way to be able to mobilise these resources in view of the economic implosion that is now unfolding and the international community's repeated commitment not to abandon the people of Afghanistan".
Last week UN Secretary-General António Guterres urged the world to take action during a "make or break" moment for the country. While reiterating that “humanitarian assistance saves lives”, the UN chief warned that “it will not solve the problem if the economy of Afghanistan collapses”.
The fund is part of a new programme for the country called ABADEI, which denotes community resilience. It will contribute to preventing a humanitarian catastrophe and the country’s economy from “completely crashing” by supporting the most vulnerable populations and collapsing micro-businesses in Afghanistan. The initiative is part of the overall UN system’s response. “The country needs immediate humanitarian assistance, but we also need to keep the local economies going – this is fundamental to ensure that people still have livelihoods and feel that they have a future in their communities,” Mr. Steiner said. Cash in local currency will be provided directly to community groups and to Afghan workers in public works programmes, such as drought and flood control. Grants will also be given to micro-enterprises and a temporary basic income would be paid to the vulnerable elderly and disabled, said Kanni Wignaraja, Director of UNDP's regional bureau for the Asia Pacific said. This will enable people to stay and live and work on their lands and in their homes and allow them to earn an income and give them “the respect and dignity that they deserve and call for”, Ms. Wignaraja said. All assistance provided will be based on impartial assessments carried out in conjunction with local community leaders and independently of authorities.
ends
STORY: Afghanistan Trust Fund
TRT: 03:09”
SOURCE: UNTV CH
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
ASPECT RATIO: 16:9
DATELINE: 21 Oct 2021, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
SHOTLIST
1. Exterior wide shot, United Nations flag flying.
2. Wide shot, Panellists at briefing.
3. SOUNDBITE: (ENGLISH) Achim Steiner, UN Development Programme (UNDP) Administrator: “What we are witnessing is not only a nation and a country in the midst of political turmoil. What we are also witnessing is an economic implosion, both in terms of a national economic and financial system, but perhaps more dramatically and immediate. The people's economy, the economy of where people earn their daily livelihoods, the incomes they use to feed their families. We are witnessing across the whole country an enormous unfolding economic crisis.”
3. Close of reporting working on laptop.
4. SOUNDBITE: (ENGLISH) Achim Steiner, UN Development Programme (UNDP) Administrator: “Indeed, UNDP, in its latest assessment published a few weeks ago, envisages a scenario on a current trajectory whereby 97 per cent of households in Afghanistan could be below the poverty line by early to mid-2022. 97 per cent. It doesn't take much imagination to understand that the implications of this in terms of disruption, not just to livelihoods but to a nation and ultimately to the lives of millions and millions of people is enormous.”
5. Panelist listening to briefing.
6. SOUNDBITE: (ENGLISH) Achim Steiner, UN Development Programme (UNDP) Administrator: “There are 38 million people who cannot be kept alive just from the outside. We have to step in, we have to stabilise a people's economy and in addition to saving lives in the immediate, we also have to save livelihoods because otherwise, we will confront indeed a scenario through this winter and into next year, where millions and millions of Afghans are simply unable to stay on the land, in their homes, in their villages and survive.
7. Mid of cameras filming briefing.
8. SOUNDBITE: (ENGLISH) Kanni Wignaraja, UN Development Programme (UNDP) Assistant Secretary-General and Director of the Regional Bureau for Asia Pacific:
“People who are fundamentally, they wish to stay and live and work on their lands and in their homes and it prevents them from having to get up and leave with their families. So it really is a sense of moving very quickly, particularly behind a group of dynamic young people, women, those who are currently extremely vulnerable, to give them that extra bit of income that they can earn and the respect and dignity that they deserve and call for.”
9. Wide of briefing.
8. SOUNDBITE: (ENGLISH) Kanni Wignaraja, UN Development Programme (UNDP) Assistant Secretary-General and Director of the Regional Bureau for Asia Pacific: “It channels of funding directly to community groups, to community members. It will provide a cash for work to support small public works efforts. As Achim said, it will provide a temporary basic income for the most vulnerable, including the elderly and disabled.”
9. Mid of attendee in front of screen.
10. Mid of attendee with laptop.
Similar Stories
1
1
2
Edited News | WHO
The first meagre midweek delivery of urgently needed medical goods to enter Gaza in months will provide scant relief to the enclave’s people, who continue to be shot and killed as they search for food, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday.
2
1
2
Statements , Edited News | HRC
Enhanced interactive dialogue on the High Commissioner’s report on Myanmar presented by Volker Türk, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and oral update by Thomas Andrews, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar
1
1
1
Press Conferences | WHO
Alessandra Vellucci, Director of the United Nations Information Service in Geneva, chaired a hybrid press briefing, which was attended by the representatives and spokespersons of the World Health Organisation, the United Nations High Commission for Refugees, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, and the World Meteorological Organisation.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNOG
The conflict-impacted people of the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) urgently need much more international assistance than they are getting today, the UN’s top aid official said on Thursday.
1
1
1
Press Conferences | OHCHR
Forms of sex-based violence against women and girls, and the concept of consent in relation to violence against women and girls
1
1
1
Press Conferences | UNCTAD
How AI and the digital economy intersect with labor markets, policy gaps, and global equity – Background briefing ahead of Ai for Good Summit
1
1
2
Edited News | UNOG
Violence in Myanmar is spiralling as the military junta increases its attacks on monasteries, schools and camps sheltering people uprooted by the civil war, a top independent human rights investigator warned on Wednesday.
1
1
1
Press Conferences | OHCHR
Press conference by the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR
UN Human Rights Spokesperson Thameen Al-Kheetan on Palestinians killed seeking food in Gaza
1
1
1
Press Conferences | OHCHR
Call for Solidarity and Peace: Addressing the Normalization of Violence and Arctic Militarization Risks through Indigenous Peoples’ Examples, Including Insights from the Independent Expert’s Visit to Denmark and Greenland
1
1
1
Press Conferences | ITU , OHCHR , UNCTAD , UNESCO , UNHCR
Alessandra Vellucci, Director of the United Nations Information Service in Geneva, chaired a hybrid press briefing, which was attended by the representatives and spokespersons of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the United Nations Refugee Agency, the International Telecommunication Union, and the United Nations Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR
Iran-Israel war: UN rights office concerned over strike on Tehran prison, reported espionage arrests
Tehran’s notorious Evin prison known for holding dissidents should not be a target, the UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR) said on Tuesday, a day after a reported Israeli strike on the complex.