MP’S plan to save Afghanistan from ‘total economic collapse’
WELSH Labour MP Stephen Kinnock has put forward a three-point plan aimed at rescuing Afghanistan from financial collapse.
Mr Kinnock, who is Shadow Minister for Asia and the Pacific, said the country had been plunged into economic crisis since the Taliban returned to power in November.
In an article for the Guardian, the MP for Aberavon wrote: “For 20 years the Afghan economy has been almost entirely dependent on financial support from the international donor community, delivered to the Afghan government to cover public sector running costs.
“This international development assistance accounted for 43% of Afghanistan’s GDP and 75% of its public expenditure at the point when Kabul fell, so it is little wonder that the Afghan economy is now on the brink of total collapse following the international community’s understandable refusal to channel funding through the Taliban. Meanwhile the entire Afghan banking system has shut down, leaving Afghans with little access to money beyond importing suitcases full of cash.
“As winter sets in, Afghanistan is on the brink of disaster. The executive director of the UN World Food Programme, David Beasley, warned earlier this month that ‘23 million people are marching towards starvation.’ Heartbreaking reports of parents selling their children are starting to emerge. The UN has confirmed that 55% of the population face acute food insecurity.”
The MP stated that while aid was essential, it did not have to be channelled via the Taliban. He added: “First, the Foreign Secretary must convene partner countries that are willing and able to mobilise Afghanistan’s
major western donors, to deliver aid off-budget. The two multi-donor trust funds ... can operate independently of the Taliban by channelling funds and paying salaries directly to the Afghan public sector and NGOS via a model that is both controlled and auditable.
“Second, our government must take the lead in re-enabling some form of cash flow in Afghanistan. The banking sector is on the verge of collapse, but international banks fear US sanctions for being seen to support the Taliban. The result is that there is virtually no domestic currency circulating. The UK government must therefore urge partner countries to amend their respective sanctions regimes to facilitate the re-establishment of focused banking services that can help deliver humanitarian assistance.
“Third, in the longer term it is going to be essential for aid organisations and NGOS to have some clarity on what donor governments will or will not accept in terms of the Taliban’s modus operandi. But if each government develops its own guidelines and conditions this will make it impossible for the aid community to operate effectively on the ground. The UK government should therefore convene the key donors in order to agree on a set of basic principles that will both enable aid actors to work more efficiently and send a clear and consistent message to the Taliban.
“The question is whether the Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary care enough to take action. Labour is not banking on it, and that’s why we are putting forward our three-point plan. The consequences of further inaction are too devastating to contemplate.”
The Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office was invited to respond, but did not.