The United Nations last month paid nearly $ 8 million for the salaries of some 23,500 health workers in Afghanistan, bypassing the Taliban Ministry of Health, a first attempt to provide liquidity to the collapsing Afghan economy.
The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and the Global Fund have worked together to revive a World Bank-funded program until it suspended aid to Afghanistan after the Taliban seized power.
The United Nations is struggling to provide enough money to Afghanistan to provide humanitarian assistance to millions on the brink of starvation and to prevent the country’s economy, health and education from collapsing.
“Someone had to take action. “We are facing not only a health system on the verge of collapse, but also a collapsing financial system,” said UNDP Regional Director for Asia and the Pacific Kanye Wignaraza.
The Global Fund offered $ 15 million, of which $ 8 million was used to pay salaries and the rest to buy basic medical equipment, medicines and supplies. The UNDP has found a way to get money into Afghanistan and into the hands of health workers in 31 of the country’s 34 provinces.
Wignaraza said the UNDP had transferred some money to the International Bank of Afghanistan and others through a large money transfer company.
The money was deposited in the accounts of some health workers working in almost 2,200 clinics, while another 2,500 will soon be paid in cash as they are in isolated areas.
“It gave hope to these families. It has given impetus to health services “, pointed out Wignaraza, while adding that for the next three months the program will be managed by the World Health Organization and Unicef.
“Without this (program) all Afghan doctors, nurses, technicians would be in a hurry to leave the country,” he added.
Afghanistan’s economy has been in crisis since the Taliban came to power. The country’s banks rely heavily on US dollar transfers, which have stalled, while billions of dollars in Afghan resources abroad have been frozen. At the same time, development aid to Afghanistan has stopped as donors and institutions do not want to circumvent UN sanctions imposed on the Taliban and many other countries.
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