OIC nations pledge fund for Afghanistan as millions face hunger, poverty

The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has vowed to set up a humanitarian trust fund for Afghanistan as the country is witnessing a major crisis with millions facing poverty and hunger.

Pakistan organised a summit of foreign ministers from the OIC. An OIC resolution released after the meeting said the Islamic Development Bank would lead the effort to free up assistance by the first quarter of 2022, Al Jazeera reported.

It also urged Afghanistan's rulers to abide by "obligations under international human rights covenants, especially with regards to the rights of women, children, youth, elderly and people with special needs".

The OIC meeting did not give the new Taliban government any formal international recognition and Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi was excluded from the official photograph taken during the event.

Muttaqi said his government "has the right to be officially recognised".

"The current Afghanistan government is cooperating with every foreign organisation," he told reporters, adding that sanctions "must be removed".

"Any government when it can't pay its salaries for its public servants, hospitals, doctors, nurses, any government is going to collapse but chaos suits no one, it certainly does not suit the United States."

Addressing the meeting virtually, UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Martin Griffiths Afghanistan's economy is in "free fall" and warned that if decisive and compassionate action is not taken immediately, it may "pull the entire population with it".

Griffiths painted a grim picture of 23 million people facing hunger; malnourished children overflowing in health facilities; 70 per cent of teachers working without salaries; and millions of students - Afghanistan's future - out of school.

Moreover, this is occurring as the value of the Afghani currency plummets, a lack of confidence in the financial sector destroys trade and the space for borrowing and investment dramatically constricts.

( With inputs from ANI )

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