More Than 8M Afghans Need Aid as Red Crescent Reports AFN 1.8B in Assistance

DID Press: Taliban officials have called on citizens and charitable organisations to support vulnerable people across Afghanistan during a fundraising week, saying more than 8 million people in the country need assistance.

Abdul Salam Hanafi, the Taliban’s deputy prime minister for administrative affairs, urged Afghans at home and abroad to help people in need according to their means. He also praised public support for returning migrants and claimed that development activities in Afghanistan were continuing as normal.

Meanwhile, Taliban Prime Minister Mullah Mohammad Hassan Akhund called on businesspeople, investors, religious scholars, tribal elders and charitable organisations to support the humanitarian work of the Afghan Red Crescent Society through donations, alms and cash or in-kind contributions.

Sheikh Shahabuddin Delawar, head of the Afghan Red Crescent Society, said the organisation had provided AFN 1.8 billion in assistance over the past year to returning migrants, people affected by conflict, widows, farmers and other vulnerable groups.

Delawar added that construction of a healthcare complex for people with mental health conditions would begin in Kandahar Province at a cost of AFN 130 million. The facility is expected to be completed within a year.

He said the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, Turkey, Qatar and several European countries continued to cooperate with the Afghan Red Crescent Society.

The reported need for assistance among more than 8 million people, alongside migrant returns, poverty and the effects of conflict and natural disasters, underscores the continuing demand for humanitarian support in Afghanistan.