Ghani says 90% of population lives below the poverty line

President Ashraf Ghani on Saturday painted a grim picture of the high poverty levels in Afghanistan and said an estimated 90 percent of the population lived below the $2 a day poverty line. 

Addressing guests attending the launch of the government’s aid distribution program “Distarkhan-e-Millie”, Ghani said poverty is not an incident, it is a tragedy. 

He said a responsible and accountable government takes the pain of its people seriously and acts accordingly. 

The president said the accountability method in dealing with the new program will be revised and that it will be monitored so that people get the food packages they need. He also indicated that if mismanagement occurred, the people needed to report it.

Ghani also raised the issue of COVID-19 and praised officials for having raised awareness around the pandemic. 

In terms of aid, donated by foreign countries, Ghani said that Afghanistan needed to become self-sufficient in this respect. He did, however, express his appreciation regarding international organizations and countries that had contributed to the program.

Amrullah Saleh, First Vice President, meanwhile thanked Ghani for having made budget adjustments to include the food program. 

He said the food distribution programs will be rolled out in two phases; at first in 34 provinces, 123 districts, 12,896 villages, and will reach a total of 1.67 million families.

This phase will cost an estimated US$86 million and packages will include wheat, rice, oil, beans, and hand soap.

Saleh said the second phase would also be carried out in 34 provinces and will take in 235 districts, 21,842 villages, and 2.5 million families. 

The budget for phase two would be an estimated US$158 million.