FAO aims to reach 9 million people in Afghanistan by the end of the year

“So far, we've reached 2.7 million people this year. By the end of 2022, we'd have reached 9 million across the country,” the FAO Country Director for Afghanistan, Dick Trenchard, said in a video released on Twitter.

“This is possible, thanks to our national & international NGO partners, who are key to ensure we reach the right people at the right time,” Trenchard noted.

So far, we've reached 2.7 million people this year.

By the end of 2022, we'd have reached 9 million across the country.

This is possible, thanks to our national & international NGO partners, who are key to ensure we reach the right people at the right time. @Dick_Trenchard pic.twitter.com/dswzc5upNr

— FAO in Afghanistan (@FAOAfghanistan) September 1, 2022

Amidst mounting poverty, 70 percent of households in Afghanistan are unable to meet basic food and non-food needs, with particularly devastating effects for homes headed by widows, the elderly, people with disabilities, and children.

An estimated 3 million children are at risk of malnutrition and susceptible to diseases such as acute watery diarrhoea and measles due to weakened immunity.

According to international humanitarian organizations, Afghanistan’s humanitarian crisis cannot be effectively addressed unless the United States and other governments ease restrictions on the country’s banking sector to facilitate legitimate economic activity and humanitarian aid.

The US and other governments and the World Bank Group revoked the credentials of the Central Bank of Afghanistan after the takeover of Islamic Emirate on August 15, 2021. (ILKHA)