Tomas Niklasson, the European Union’s special envoy for Afghanistan, met with his Qatari counterpart Faisal bin Abdullah Al Hanzab in Doha on Wednesday, according to Qatar’s Foreign Ministry.

The meeting focused on developments in Afghanistan and joint international efforts to achieve peace and stability in the country, the ministry said.

This meeting comes a month ahead of the upcoming Doha conference on Afghanistan.

Recently, there has been an increase in meetings among special envoys for Afghanistan, reflecting heightened international engagement on the issue.

The European Union is allocating an additional EUR 10 million to the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) for school feeding activities in Afghanistan.

This will allow WFP to expand school feeding into three additional provinces with high levels of food insecurity in primary schools, the organization said Wednesday in a statement.

“Hunger can be a barrier to education. The additional EU funding to our long-standing partner WFP ensures that more children in Afghanistan receive nutritious food. This is essential for them to have the energy and focus they need to learn effectively and stay healthy.

“And if these meals encourage parents to prioritize school attendance, this is benefiting everyone”, said Raffaella Iodice, EU Chargée d’Affaires to Afghanistan.

Thanks to the additional EU funding, WFP will be able to distribute fortified biscuits or locally produced nutritious school snacks to pupils in more than 10,000 schools in the eight provinces of Farah, Ghor, Jawzjan, Nangarhar, Nuristan, Paktika, Uruzgan and Zabul.

In addition, school girls in grades 4 to 6 will receive take-home rations including vegetable oil or cash for their families. In three provinces with especially low enrolment rates for boys, boys in grades 4 to 6 will receive take-home rations. These rations improve the nutrition of the whole family and encourage families to keep children in school.

“WFP in Afghanistan launched its school feeding programme more than two decades ago to link food security and better nutrition with education”, said Hsiao-Wei Lee, WFP Country Director in Afghanistan.

“Last year, WFP supported 1.5 million school-aged children through this programme and the European Union has been a key partner in helping us reach them.”

Expanding the range of in-school meals, WFP will for the first time in Afghanistan test the local production of vegetarian samosas from fortified local ingredients through a network of local bakeries.

A planned 2,000 children will receive two samosas per school day baked with pumpkin, spinach or egg, and potato or soya beans, as a protein-rich and nutritious snack.

In Afghanistan, school feeding activities have had a positive impact on school participation and learning and help families enroll and keep their children in schools.

For poor families globally, the value of meals in schools can be up to one tenth of household income, and several children enrolled in a school can translate into substantial savings for the family.

This latest top-up by the EU follows an earlier contribution of EUR 20.9 million towards WFP’s school feeding programme in Afghanistan for the years 2022 and 2023.

The funding comes at a timely moment and averts WFP having to downsize its school feeding programme this year due to lack of funding.

Uzbekistan railway officials in Termez city say they have reduced the cost of Uzbekistan-Hairatan rail transport tariffs by 50 percent.

Goods from China, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and other countries enter Afghanistan via this route.

Uzbek railway officials have said in order to facilitate and expand trade relations between the two countries and to support Afghan businessmen, they have reduced the tariffs by 50 percent.

Previously, specific tariffs were charged for the shipments coming from the Afghan government. For example, goods brought in over Friendship Bridge were charged $200 for a 40-ton wagon and $100 for a 20-ton wagon. Similarly, different amounts had to be paid at customs based on different services, but now all payments up to $500 have been waived until the end of the year, said Farhad, head of Termez railway.

Meanwhile, Afghan traders in Balkh welcomed Uzbekistan’s initiative and the creation of facilities in the rail transport sector, but have urged the Islamic Emirate to create more facilities.

Balkh railway officials also said that to increase transfers, they need better facilities so as to ensure a smooth transfer of goods.

The efforts to start practical work on the Afghan-Trans railway line are also underway; this line will start in Uzbekistan and end in Pakistan.