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KABUL: Norway has urged other countries to contribute to a United Nations fund by providing cash directly to Afghans so they can survive the winter.
Norway itself has pledged $23 million to UN fund to support Afghans ahead of an impending winter humanitarian crisis
According to Reuters, Norwegian foreign minister has said that the Afghan economy is imploding and United Nations has initiated a fund last month to provide direct help for local households, drawing on donor funds frozen since it took power in August.
“We encourage other countries to do the same, to pitch in to avoid a pressing humanitarian crisis and a potential famine,” Foreign Minister Anniken Huitfeldt said ahead of a UN Security Council meeting on Wednesday.
Norway was also funneling cash to aid women’s organisations in Afghanistan, she said, and Norway’s humanitarian aid to the country would total 325 million crowns this year.
Norway will take over the U.N. Security Council presidency from January.
“I hope the discussion in the Security Council tomorrow will contribute to give some attention to the situation in Afghanistan … to mobilise more funds,” Huitfeldt said.
“(The fund’s) purpose is to build a bridge between a humanitarian effort and something more long-term, in order for people to support themselves,” she added.
