The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) hosted a donor conference in Kabul on Thursday in a bid to raise funds for victims of recent disasters in Afghanistan.

Organized by the foreign ministry, the conference was attended by representatives from United Nations agencies and other NGOs based in Afghanistan.

Speaking at the conference Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi briefed delegates about the casualties, losses and damages incurred during recent natural disasters across the country and the actions taken by the IEA to tackle and manage the events.

According to Muttaqi, recent flash floods in parts of the country left almost 200 people dead, 300 others wounded, 12,000 houses destroyed or damaged, more than 9,000 livestock dead and thousands of agricultural land destroyed.

Muttaqi said that during operations more than 20,000 people were rescued from flood waters and temporary shelters were provided.

He said while the recent floods and earthquake in June were a challenge for the IEA, the Islamic Emirate was able to assist victims with its limited resources.

“With the help of aid organizations we have provided food and non- food items to more than 100,000 affected people across the country,” Muttaqi said.

He said the IEA also built mobile clinics and camps for the earthquake victims, and permanent shelters were built for more than 1,000 people affected by this disaster.

“Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan distributed 160 million afghanis in cash to the people affected in the June earthquake.”

According to Muttaqi with the help of the WFP, the IEA was able to provide assistance to more than six million people across the country.

“We called on the international community and international aid organizations to help those affected in the earthquake and flash floods. Today Afghans need your help more than any other day,” Muttaqi said.

He also said that the IEA’s government is newly established and put all its efforts into rescuing people and delivering aid but according to him: “We are not able to carry this burden alone. Therefore we hope that all humanitarian organizations and the international community will help us in this hard time.”

The foreign minister said that the IEA is ready to fully cooperate with aid organizations in distributing aid transparently and providing grounds for aid distribution.

“We are using our resources to address the problems but our resources are limited and not adequate for all those affected by the recent natural disasters. We call on all humanitarian organizations, helping partners and businessmen to help those affected in earthquake and flash floods, and we are ready and willing to cooperate in delivering all aid in a transparent process to the affected people” Muttaqi said.

He once again called on the international community to release Afghanistan’s frozen assets and to lift all sanctions and provide facilities for trade.

“For lasting improvement our demand and request is that Afghan’s rights must be given and like other nations, ways must be opened for Afghans, both ground and air corridors, so we can engage with other countries so our country can stand on its own feet and help us find markets for our goods and facilitate with exports. This will benefit Afghans,” Muttaqi said.

On behalf of UNAMA, Ramiz Alakbarov said: “We have delivered more than $1 billion dollars in cash towards humanitarian operations through the use of liquidity funds to Afghanistan and that supported partners and also enabled cash assistance directly to the people.”

He also said that solutions are not in the distribution of aid, but rather in the investment in the agricultural sector.

“We must prioritize the needs of vulnerable Afghans; women and children require special attention,” he said.

“We are strongly committed to supporting relief efforts in Afghanistan that we will continue as a community of 193 organizations to deliver that assistance in most remote areas,” Alakbarov said.

He also said: “We right now operate in 401 districts and we do appreciate the access and the security provided to us to be able to deliver that assistance.”

Alakbarov emphasized that UNAMA’s continued presence aims to support the people of Afghanistan.