Global community must help Afghanistan to avoid 'disastrous consequences': UNHCR

The chief of United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) Filippo Grandi on Monday urged the international community to continue aiding Afghanistan or risk “disastrous consequences”.

Grandi was speaking at a donors conference in Geneva, where he made his appeal after visiting Afghanistan. Right now, the country is eclipsed by violence, the risk of which continues to linger with US troops pullout happening soon.

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Grandi added that the future of millions of Afghans is dependent on the peace talks that are taking place in Qatar. He also urged the international community to commit to developing the country.

"Failure on either account would see Afghanistan slide backwards with disastrous consequences, including further displacement possibly on a large scale," Grandi said in a statement.

Every four years, donors meet to pledge aid for Afghanistan, which is heavily dependent on foreign assistance.  Grandi claimed that 300,000 Afghans who were displaced within Afghanistan required acute humanitarian support.

Over three million people were previously displaced in the country, where nine million people have also lost their livelihoods due to COVID-19. Grandi also pushed for the culmination of peace talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban.

Also read: Afghanistan, Taliban resolve several disputed issues: Officials

The country’s president Ashraf Ghani had urged the world community to come up with a framework which could help Afghanistan achieve peace.

Help could "guarantee peace and political stability and contain and eliminate the interrelated threats of terrorist networks”, Ghani said in a video call.