EU launches $304M aid program for Afghan people

BRUSSELS

The European Union has launched 14 projects worth €268.3 million ($304 million) to support Afghan people in need, the European Commission announced on Tuesday.

“Today, we are demonstrating what we have said many times: we will not abandon the Afghan people,” EU Commissioner for International Partnerships Jutta Urpilainen said in a statement.

“We have reacted quickly to alleviate the suffering of the population and preserve a future for the Afghan people, especially women and youth,” he added.

The bloc will finance seven projects worth €186 million to support education, health, and working people in Afghanistan, providing among other measures emergency cash for teachers’ salaries, school meals, supporting polio vaccination, and fighting the COVID-19 pandemic.

From this envelope, €65 million will be dedicated to boost employment by giving meals or cash for workers and supporting women entrepreneurs.

Internally displaced people in Afghanistan and refugees in Iran, Pakistan, and Central Asia will benefit from another five projects worth €79 million.

The EU will also increase by €3.3 million its funding to two projects for supporting human rights defenders in Afghanistan.

The aid is part of the €1 billion package announced last October by Ursula von der Leyen, head of the European Commission.

United Nations agencies working in Afghanistan – such as UNICEF, the WFP, UNDP, UNHCR, WHO, and IOM – will receive the funding to directly help the Afghan people.

The EU is dedicating the aid for people in need and sticking to its five-benchmark policy as a precondition to engage with the Taliban interim administration, which does not imply recognition of the government.

These conditions require the fight against international terrorism, respect for human rights, especially women’s rights, the establishment of an inclusive and representative government, free access for humanitarian aid, and granting free departure for foreign citizens and Afghans at risk.