Guterres pleads with US, World Bank to unlock Afghanistan funds
14 January 2022, 07:08 pm | Updated: 22 November 2024, 04:01 am
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Thursday urged the United States and the World Bank to unfreeze Afghan funds, locked since the Taliban's return to power, to prevent "the nightmare unfolding in Afghanistan" from getting worse.BSS/AFP.
"We must... rapidly inject liquidity into the economy and avoid a meltdown that would lead to poverty, hunger and destitution for millions," Guterres told reporters in New York.
After the Taliban hardline Islamist movement seized power in mid-August as the United States ended its 20-year war in Afghanistan, the country has found itself on the brink of a humanitarian catastrophe.
Billions of dollars of assets are frozen by Washington, aid supplies are heavily disrupted and over half of the population faces the threat of famine.
