Donors pledge $2.44 bln towards UN appeal for Afghan aid

Earlier, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres appealed for donors to provide "unconditional" funding to Afghanistan

By
Reuters
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An Afghan woman holds her child as she and others wait to receive a package being distributed by a Turkish humanitarian aid group at a distribution centre in Kabul, Afghanistan, December 15, 2021. — Reuters/Ali Khara
An Afghan woman holds her child as she and others wait to receive a package being distributed by a Turkish humanitarian aid group at a distribution centre in Kabul, Afghanistan, December 15, 2021. — Reuters/Ali Khara

  • Earlier, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres appealed for donors to provide "unconditional" funding to Afghanistan.
  • Per UN, 9 million Afghans faced famine.
  • Afghani families reportedly selling children and organs to survive.


GENEVA: Donor countries pledged $2.44 billion towards the United Nations' $4.4 billion appeal for humanitarian aid in Afghanistan, a senior UN official said on Thursday after a high-level pledging conference.

Earlier, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres appealed for donors to provide "unconditional" funding saying that 9 million Afghans faced famine and that families were selling children and organs to survive.

Joyce Msuya, UN deputy emergency relief coordinator, announced that $2.44 billion was promised at the talks during which Western donors including the United States, the European Union and Britain strongly criticised the Taliban's decision to deny girls secondary education.