UNDP launches programme to help prevent collapse of Afghan economy

KABUL: The United Nations Development Program’s (UNDP) new assessment shows that 97pc of Afghan households could be below the poverty line before mid 2022 if Afghanistan’s economic crisis is not addressed.

At the same time, the UNDP has launched a trust fund programme to protect Afghanistan’s economy from collapsing and to help Afghans who lost their livelihoods after the recent political turmoil in Afghanistan. “The country needs immediate humanitarian assistance, but we also need to keep the local economies going – this is fundamental to ensure that people still have livelihoods and feel that they have a future in their communities,” said UNDP Administrator Achim Steiner at a press conference in Geneva.

“What we are witnessing is not only a nation and a country in the midst of political turmoil; what we are also witnessing is an economic implosion,” he said. Germany has decided to support a special trust fund for Afghanistan, and it is putting in 50 million euros.

The money will be channeled through three different routes: cash for public works programs; small grants to keep small businesses running and get start-ups off the ground; and temporary basic income for the elderly and vulnerable. Meanwhile, poverty is increasing every day since the former government collapsed; thousands of families were displaced and thousands of Afghans lost their jobs. Alem Sana is leading a family of 20 members who all live under a tent in Kabul. She said: “We have nothing, and no one has given us aid. We ate and spent all we had during this time.” “It is very cold overnight. We are running out of food. Most of the time, we spend days without eating and drinking,” Amena told TOLOnews.