Top UN official seeks US $250 million in aid

UN Emergency Relief Coordinator, Kenzo Oshima, who visited Central Asia earlier this month, told reporters in New York, USA, on Wednesday that US $250 million was the "minimum necessary requirement to provide basic support for Afghanistan to prevent the crisis from developing into something worse: a catastrophe." Oshima describing what he saw in the region as "a sea of humanity in unbelievable misery, destitution and indignity," where over one million Afghans were at risk of famine while millions more suffered the "most grinding poverty imaginable." Many civilians have been killed by the warring factions, while tens of thousands more had had their basic rights trampled on, he said. Oshima called for immediate life-saving support, yet emphasised that "short-term relief is not enough." He said that targeted assistance must be provided to people living in Afghanistan's villages, towns and farms to discourage people from leaving their homes and offer internally- displaced people (IDPs) and refugees an incentive to return. Oshima said that war "was causing all of this misery and death", and that "a genuine commitment to stop fighting and bring peace in Afghanistan is the only way to really address this humanitarian crisis."