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Famine may have been averted, but Afghan economic crisis deepens: UN envoy
Humanitarian agencies may have distributed enough aid in Afghanistan to avert famine and large-scale starvation, but the country’s economic collapse is “approaching a point of irreversibility,” the UN envoy to Kabul said on Wednesday.
UN Special Representative Deborah Lyons told the UN Security Council that it is “most urgent” to resolve the root problems of the economic crisis, but doing so will require cooperating on all issues with the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) who seized power in August, Reuters reported.
“We do not believe that we can truly assist the Afghan people without working with the defacto authorities,” Lyons said in urging the council to approve a new mandate for her mission.
The IEA authorities lack international recognition six months after taking control of Kabul as the last US-led international troops departed, ending 20 years of war, Reuters reported.
According to Reuters donors cut financial aid constituting more than 70% of government expenditures and about $9 billion in Afghan central bank assets were frozen. Many of IEA’s leaders remain under US and UN sanctions.
The moves accelerated an economic collapse, fueling a cash shortage, joblessness and hunger, prompting UN warnings that more than half of the 39 million people faced starvation, Reuters reported.
Lyons told the council that UN agencies and their partners have supplied aid to nearly 20 million Afghans across the country.
“We believe, as the winter season comes to an end, that we have perhaps averted our worst fears of famine and widespread starvation,” she said.
Lyons, however, said that urgent steps must be taken to address the liquidity crisis, restrictions on international payments and constraints on the central bank.
“Six months of indecision, marked by continued sanctions albeit with some relief, and unstructured political engagement, are eroding the vital social and economic coping systems and pushing the population into greater uncertainty,” she said.
“What we have done has been only to buy a little time.”
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High-level Uzbek delegation arrives in Kabul to boost bilateral trade
A high-level government–private sector delegation from Uzbekistan, led by Shukhrat Abdullazakov, Governor of Namangan Province, arrived in Kabul to enhance trade between the two countries and promote investment in Afghanistan.
According to a press release from the Ministry of Industry, the delegation, which includes deputy governors and more than 30 of Uzbekistan’s top businesspeople and investors, will meet with officials of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan and participate in conferences and trade meetings.
The delegation will also travel to Balkh, meet with local officials, and hold business meetings with members of the private sector.
Additionally, the delegation will inaugurate an exhibition of Uzbek products and goods in Mazar-i-Sharif.
This visit follows the trip of Erkinjon Turdimov, Governor of Uzbekistan’s Syrdarya Province, and his accompanying delegation, and is based on meetings between Nuruddin Azizi, Minister of Industry and Trade of the Islamic Emirate, and senior Uzbek officials.
Other governors from Uzbekistan are also expected to visit Afghanistan to further expand bilateral trade and economic relations.
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Herat Chamber of Commerce donates 15 million AFN to the people of Iran
The Herat Chamber of Commerce and Investment announced on Saturday that national traders, jointly through the chamber, have provided approximately 15 million AFN in aid to the people of Iran.
The chamber stated that this aid package was delivered to the Iranian Consulate in Herat. It added that the assistance was intended to express solidarity with families affected by the war.
Mohammad Younes Qazizadeh, head of the Herat Chamber of Commerce and Investment, said: “Today we have presented 15 million AFN to the dear people of Iran through the Herat provincial authorities and the Iranian Consulate, and this aid will continue.”
Meanwhile, officials at the Iranian Consulate in Herat emphasized that Afghanistan and Iran always stand together and fully understand each other’s difficulties.
The Herat Chamber of Commerce and Investment also highlighted that the people of Iran have consistently supported the people of Afghanistan during various crises, and their cooperation in different sectors has reached families affected in the country.
Officials of the Herat Chamber of Commerce and Investment stressed that the process of private-sector humanitarian aid to the affected people of Iran will continue.
Following attacks by the United States and Israel on Iran, many people in the country have been affected and harmed.
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Severe floods in Badghis leave five dead
Local officials in Badghis have reported that heavy rainfall from midnight until Saturday morning claimed the lives of five people in the province.
According to officials, three people died in Qadis district, while two others, including a three-year-old child, lost their lives in Dara-e-Bum district.
The Badghis Department for Disaster Management stated that the floods not only caused fatalities but also inflicted significant financial losses on local residents and destroyed agricultural land.
However, complete information on the extent of damage and casualties is not yet available. Staff from various government departments have been dispatched to affected areas to conduct preliminary surveys.
Meanwhile, heavy rains and floods in western Afghanistan temporarily blocked the Herat–Kandahar Highway.
According to Mohammad Israil Sayar, head of the Disaster Management Department in Farah province, recent rainfall has caused the Farah River to swell significantly. He added that the situation has now returned to normal, and traffic along the highway has resumed.
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