Peter Kenny
21 October 2021•Update: 22 October 2021
GENEVA
The UN on Thursday said it has launched a crisis trust fund to provide money directly to Afghans to prevent a humanitarian crisis and the breakdown of the economy.
"The country needs immediate humanitarian assistance, but we also need to keep the local economies going," UN Development Program (UNDP) Administrator Achim Steiner said at a news conference in Geneva.
"This is fundamental to ensure that people still have livelihoods and feel that they have a future in their communities."
According to UNDP, all assistance provided will be delivered to Afghans directly, based on impartial assessments carried out with local community leaders, and independently of authorities.
The program will make its input by supporting the most vulnerable populations and the collapsing micro-businesses in Afghanistan.
Steiner said the initiative would channel funding into community activities and provide grants to support small and micro businesses, especially those owned by women.
It supports cash-for-work projects offering short-term income to the unemployed to restore small local infrastructure, said UNDP.
UNDP aims to support people with disabilities, the elderly, and the most vulnerable through temporary basic income.
The scheme will assist in strengthening natural disaster alleviation and resilience, such as through rehabilitation of canals and flood protection to protect farmlands.
Turkey and the new administration in Afghanistan held their first high-level contact on Oct. 17 after the Taliban took power on Aug. 15.
World powers have called on the group to form an inclusive government representing the country's diversity.
