Taliban scheme gives further credibility to Pakistan’s call for aid to Afghanistan

Pakistan has been consistently urging the international community to help Afghanistan avert a looming humanitarian catastrophe as a fallout of the exit of foreign troops in August.

The call for international aid to Afghanistan has become more relevant after its interim Taliban government launched a programme to offer wheat in exchange for labour to fight hunger and unemployment.

The security experts believe the “food for work” scheme is in fact signalling a looming crisis.

The scheme, to tackle hunger and unemployment, will be rolled out in major towns and cities and employ 40,000 men in the capital of Kabul alone.

“This is an important step for fighting unemployment,” Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said during a press conference, adding the labourers must “work hard”.

Afghanistan — which is already suffering from poverty, drought, electricity blackouts and a failing economic system — is now facing the onset of what may be a harsh winter.

The two-month programme will see 11,600 tons of wheat distributed in the capital, with about 55,000 tons for elsewhere in the country, including Herat, Jalalabad, Kandahar, Mazar-i-sharif and Pol-i-khomri.

Work for the labourers in Kabul will include digging water channels and catchment terraces for snow in the hills to combat drought.

The Taliban’s food-for-work scheme will not pay labourers, targeting those who are currently unemployed and most at risk of starvation during the winter.

A humanitarian crisis is imminent, Pakistan fears, as the United States refuses to sanction the new government in Afghanistan, blocking its access to over $9 billion in held assets.

The war-ravaged country has suffered a lot over four decades of hardships. The security analysts say that relief for the people is still a distant dream even after the exit of regional forces.

With winters setting in, the people are likely to face even worse. It is time for the international community to act and act fast to avert a looming crisis, they said.

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Filippo grandi has called on the world to engage with the Taliban government or risk a “humanitarian crisis” resulting from the collapse of the state.

According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Finland, approximately half of the 40 million people in Afghanistan are estimated to need humanitarian assistance. As many as 8.7 million people would need long-term and consistent assistance.

As per the report of the UN Consolidated Appeal Process, the need for humanitarian aid in Afghanistan in 2021 was estimated to be €1.3 billion.

In September, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi at a joint press conference with his german counterpart, Heiko Maas, said: “This is a pivotal moment in Afghanistan’s history. The international community must remain engaged.”

Pakistan has so far sent 53 truckloads and four C-130 aircraft carrying 1,096 tonnes of humanitarian aid comprising edibles, medicines and shelter to Afghanistan between September 9 and October 21. It also collaborated with Turkey for the dispatch of another nine trucks assistance carrying 146.7 tonnes of food and medicines.

On October 20, Pakistan was among the regional countries at the Moscow Forum that asked for the need to support Afghanistan to avert an economic and humanitarian crisis.

Pakistan along with other states at the forum asked for convening an urgent UN donor conference on Afghanistan, suggesting the main burden be borne by the forces whose military contingents had been present in this country over the past 20 years.