(WNAM Monitoring): The Special Representative of the United States for Afghanistan Affairs stated on Wednesday that the majority of the Afghan people need humanitarian aid.
Thomas West emphasized that the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan cannot be solved with aid such as flour and oil, and Afghanistan requires “sustainable livelihood and private sector development.”
In an online meeting with representatives of several Afghan media outlets, Tom West mentioned that humanitarian aid to Afghanistan will continue because over 70 per cent of the people need such assistance.
He dismissed the criticism that the Taliban are benefiting from international aid. According to him, American cooperating organizations have directly distributed humanitarian aid to the people. West added that these organizations have halted their activities to prevent aid from falling into the hands of the Taliban when necessary.
However, John F. Sopko, the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction in the U.S. Congress Foreign Relations Committee, stated that there is a possibility of the Taliban misusing this aid.
He pointed out the Taliban’s interference in aid distribution and the establishment of fake aid organizations, which divert some of this aid into the Taliban’s pockets.
The U.S. representative mentioned that major donor countries are discussing stability and economic growth in Afghanistan due to the reduction in Afghan people’s emergency food aid needs.
West said, “We need to find a way for sustainable assistance. We want to move away from the current approach of distributing flour and oil. We want to move towards creating sustainable livelihoods that strengthen the private sector.”
