The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) warned Tuesday that the devastating floods that struck the northeastern and northwestern regions of Afghanistan in the past two weeks are likely to intensify in the coming months, resulting in a significant impact on food security.

According to a statement issued by the UN agency, the floods have so far affected over 80,000 people.

WFP also noted that most of the affected districts are “hunger hotspots” and are already facing crisis levels of food insecurity.

The worsening climate crisis has led to erratic weather patterns, which have become the norm across the country, WFP warned.

Unusually high rainfall, which followed a dry winter that left the ground too hard to absorb rain, led to massive floods earlier this month.

This was further compounded by unseasonably warm temperatures that melted mountain snow, swelling rivers that then swept through villages, burying them under mud.

“With one disaster after another hitting these communities, they’re being pushed back into destitution,” said Hsiao-Wei Lee, WFP Afghanistan’s Country Director.

“Recent improvements in food security in Afghanistan now risk being lost,” said Hsiao-Wei adding that “these families need emergency assistance to survive, and in the longer term, they need investments in community infrastructure that help protect their homes, lands and livelihoods.”

WFP has meanwhile been hard at work providing affected people with fortified biscuits and children with nutritional supplements. Working with local bakeries, WFP also distributed bread to communities most hard hit.

By the end of last week, WFP started giving food rations to people in the affected districts, and providing cash assistance where markets were still functional.

But as the climate crisis worsens, the losses from flooding are expected to increase every year, WFP warned.

The floods come after years of drought that impacted most of the country.

WFP is investing in climate adaptation projects designed and built by communities to shield them from the impacts of the climate crisis. These include protective walls, dams and irrigation canals.

During the Baghlan flood almost two weeks ago, a WFP-supported protection wall safeguarded 670 families and 400 acres of agricultural land.

However, for the flood response, WFP needs an additional US$14.5 million to cover emergency food and nutrition assistance and resilience building projects.

Ariana Television Network (ATN) staff on Monday received the prestigious Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union Asiavision Monthly Award for October 2023 for breaking news.

According to ABU, Ariana Television and Ariana News won the sought-after “monthly prize for the timeliness of its coverage of the earthquake that affected 13 villages in western Herat province.

“Ariana provided members with excellent vision and updates,” ABU stated.

The Asiavision monthly award is presented for the best news story of the month. It aims to promote good journalism, media participation and international cooperation among its 52 full member organizations across 39 countries.

For ATN, the award was a welcome acknowledgement of the team’s hard work and dedication to the public and to the media.

ATN officials said receiving this award was a great honor and was testimony to the company’s commitment to providing accurate, impartial and timely information.

Ariana News staff were meanwhile thrilled to receive such a prestigious award and said they are proud to represent the company and are committed to delivering quality stories in a timely manner.

The Office of the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) said in its latest audit report that US government implementing partners paid at least $10.9 million to the Islamic Emirate government in the form of taxes, fees, import duties, or for the receipt of permits, licenses, or public utility services since August 2021.

SIGAR also claimed the IEA “disrupted implementing partner activities through various means, including attempts to divert aid or infiltrate nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and interfere with their activities, which in some cases, negatively impacted the implementation of activities and diverted aid from the intended beneficiaries.”

SIGAR stated that of the $10.9 million, $10.4 million was spent on taxes; $346,839 on payments for utilities; $176,596 on fees; and $9,215 on customs duties.

SIGAR also found that the $10.9 million paid by 38 US Department of State (State), US Agency for International Development (USAID), and US Agency for Global Media (USAGM) implementing partners is likely only a fraction of the total amount of US assistance funds provided to the IEA in taxes, fees, duties, and utilities.

SIGAR reported this is because “UN agencies receiving US funds did not collect data or provide relevant information about their subawardees’ payments.”

According to SIGAR, from October 2021 through September 2023, the UN received $1.6 billion in US funding for programing in Afghanistan, approximately 63% of all US assistance funding for Afghanistan during that period.

“UN agreements with State and USAID do not include any requirements to annually report on taxes, fees, duties, or utilities incurred on US funds provided for activities in Afghanistan,” SIGAR stated.

SIGAR noted however that “implementing partners can experience significant consequences if they fail to pay the taxes, fees, duties, and utilities required by the Taliban-controlled (IEA) government of Afghanistan.”

However, Zabihullah Mujahid, the spokesman of the Islamic Emirate, said in response to SIGAR’s latest report that Afghanistan’s caretaker government does not interfere in the process of distributing aid and the work of institutions.