Qatar announced that on Wednesday, the United Nations sent its first emergency relief air shipments to Afghanistan to help the displaced people cope with winter conditions with its support, indicating that additional shipments will follow in the coming days.
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And the Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement: “The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, with the support of the State of Qatar, today sent its first emergency air shipments of life-saving relief materials to Afghanistan.”
She indicated that additional shipments will follow that shipment in the coming days.
The statement added: “The basic relief items will help the most vulnerable and displaced Afghan families to cope with harsh winter weather conditions, at a time when economic and humanitarian conditions continue to deteriorate.”
According to the statement, the shipment included 28 tons of solar lamps and thermal blankets to be distributed to the neediest Afghan families.
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This is the first shipment of 91 tons of UNHCR winter relief materials that the Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Qatar Fund for Development are airlifting from Doha to Kabul in support of the UNHCR program and for Afghans who are among the most vulnerable groups in the winter, according to the statement.
Nearly 700,000 people have been displaced from their homes in Afghanistan this year alone as a result of the ongoing humanitarian crisis, 80 percent of whom are women and children.
The Corona pandemic has also exacerbated the emergency situation due to its social, economic, and health impacts.
According to the Qatari Foreign Ministry statement, UNHCR has strengthened its winter response program to protect and provide assistance to 3.5 million internally displaced Afghans.
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In addition to the 2.2 million Afghan refugees registered in neighboring countries, including Iran and Pakistan, a helping hand has been extended to about 700,000 inside Afghanistan since the beginning of this year.
And in the middle of last August, the “Taliban” took control of Afghanistan completely, paralleling the final stage of a US military withdrawal from the country, which was completed at the end of the same month.
