9 million Afghans now face a food emergency

Afghanistan slipping into mass famine

A state of misery and misery suffered by the Afghans.

AFP

Nine million Afghans are now facing a food emergency, which the United Nations has described as the world's worst humanitarian crisis.

More than half of Afghanistan's 39 million people are now forced to make horrific choices to find food, selling everything they can, including their children.

Without the intervention of the international community, mass famine may be imminent.

The world, and the United States and its allies in particular, has a moral obligation to halt the country's slide into widespread famine.

Even before the Taliban seized power in August, the level of malnutrition in Afghanistan was worrying, precipitating the worst drought in 35 years, in addition to the effects of the epidemic on an economy that depends on aid and foreign transfers.

The incompetent Taliban movement has simply entered a new era of crisis.

The world continues to not recognize the regime, and senior Taliban leaders face international sanctions.

The United Nations World Food Program believes that $220 million per month is needed to provide about half the calories needed for the 22.8 million Afghans most at risk of starvation. The remote is impassable.

While governments have pledged about $1 billion in emergency support, the United Nations has received only a fraction of this money.

The United States and other countries whose coalition forces withdrew disastrously this summer must now act to help Afghanistan, where the rapid exit of American forces has facilitated the return of the Taliban, but America has also withdrawn the main means of support for large segments of the economy that depends on foreign aid.

This reflects the failure of the allied forces to build a functioning state over two decades.

The World Bank and other development agencies cannot now provide assistance directly, due to the chaotic payment system and the pariah status of the Taliban. Getting around the system requires strengthening the resources of the World Food Program and other NGOs, which are still on the ground. For the time being, at least, they say, the Taliban are allowing them to operate without much interference, and delivering food to the hungry through NGOs limits the Taliban's chances of getting any credit.

Formulating a strategy for how and when to deal with hard-line Taliban rulers should be separate from how to provide emergency assistance to ordinary Afghans, who have suffered so much, not least because of the incompetence of foreign governments.

And if the imminent famine of 23 million people is not enough to spur action, self-interest may be the motive. As Afghanistan sinks into chaos, it becomes a breeding ground for terrorist groups more harmful than the Taliban that want to directly harm America and other Western interests.

Almost all famines have their roots in politics, and fighting famine always requires finding a way to deal with hateful regimes.

In other countries, governments could be pressured at the same time as providing emergency aid to their own people.

And Afghanistan should be no different.

• The World Bank and other development agencies cannot now provide assistance directly because of the chaotic payment system and the pariah status of the Taliban.

Follow our latest local and sports news and the latest political and economic developments via Google news