Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Martin Griffiths Remarks to the UN Security Council on the Humanitarian Situation in Afghanistan

As Delivered

Thanks very much indeed, Mr. President.

The people in Afghanistan continue to face extreme hardship and uncertainty. And let me share some numbers with you.

Close to 19 million people are facing acute levels of food insecurity, including 6 million people at risk of famine.

More than half of the population – some 24 million people – need humanitarian assistance.

And an estimated 3 million children are acutely malnourished. They include over 1 million children estimated to be suffering from the most severe, life-threatening form of malnutrition. And without specialized treatment, these children could die.

This malnutrition crisis is fueled by recurrent drought, including the worst in three decades in 2021, and whose effects are still lingering. Eight out of 10 Afghans drink contaminated water, making them susceptible to repeated bouts of acute watery diarrhoea.

Around 25 million people are now living in poverty and three quarters of people’s income is spent on food. There’s been a 50 per cent decline in households receiving remittances; unemployment could reach 40 per cent; and inflation is rising due to increased global prices, import constraints and currency depreciation.

So these relentless layers of crisis persist at a time when communities are already struggling. In June, a 5.9-magnitude earthquake affected over 360,000 people living in high-intensity impact areas. And since July, heavy rains have led to massive flash floods across the country, and indeed the region, killing and injuring hundreds of people, and destroying hundreds of homes as well as thousands of acres of crops.

Afghanistan has also witnessed unprecedented levels of internal displacement and population movement. Some 5.8 million people remain in protracted internal displacement requiring long-term solutions.

These are the figures, Mr. President, and they’re devastating and frankly they’re difficult to comprehend. We worry that they will soon become worse. Once the cold weather sets in, food and fuel prices – already high – will skyrocket, and families will have to choose between feeding their children, sending them to school, taking them to a doctor when they fall sick, or keeping them warm.

Mr. President, Afghanistan’s problems are, unfortunately, neither new nor unique.

Conflict, poverty, climate shocks and food insecurity have long been a sad reality for Afghanistan and for many other countries around the world. But let me outline what makes Afghanistan’s current situation so critical.

Large-scale development assistance has been halted for a year. Before the Taliban’s takeover, Afghanistan was already facing severe levels of food insecurity and malnutrition. And these levels have, of course, deteriorated since development aid was halted, affecting families everywhere, from rural communities to urban centres.

The operating environment – the second point – is extremely challenging. Engaging with the de facto authorities at national and subnational levels is labour intensive. There’s no confidence in the domestic banking sector, leading to a severe liquidity crisis. International financial transactions are extremely hard due to de-risking and overcompliance of global banks. Humanitarians have brought in over US$1 billion in cash to sustain programme delivery, but the liquidity and banking crisis continues to impact the delivery of assistance and on the daily lives of Afghans. The Humanitarian Exchange Facility that we have discussed before, intended to temporarily and partially alleviate this liquidity issue, is still under negotiation and review by the de facto authorities.

Women and girls have been pushed to the sidelines, as we have observed also in this Chamber.

The meagre gains the country made to protect women’s rights have been quickly reversed. It’s been more than a year since adolescent girls in Afghanistan last set foot inside a classroom. In the 21st century, we should not need to explain why girls’ education and women’s empowerment are important to them, to their communities, to their countries and indeed to all of us.

Mr. President,

Afghanistan is a humanitarian crisis. But it’s not only that. It’s an economic crisis. It’s a climate crisis. It’s a hunger crisis. It’s a financial crisis. But it is not a hopeless crisis.

Humanitarian organizations have done their utmost to provide the population in Afghanistan with a lifeline. And despite the many challenges that we have just been reviewing, UN agencies and NGO partners have mounted an unprecedented response over the past year, reaching almost 23 million people in need of humanitarian assistance. We all expanded humanitarian operations to reach affected communities in all the 401 districts of Afghanistan’s 34 provinces. This was possible because of a reduction in conflict, the introduction of cash shipments – the billion dollars that I referred to, Mr. President – and the adoption of Security Council resolution 2615.

But, of course, humanitarian aid will never be able to replace the provision of systemwide services to 40 million people across the country, and the need to support those services on a sustainable basis.

Mr. President,

Preserving basic service delivery alongside humanitarian assistance remains the only way to prevent a catastrophe even greater than what we have seen these many months.

Poverty is deepening, the population is still growing, and the de facto authorities have no budget to invest in their own future. It’s clear to us – I’m sure it’s clear to all of us – that some development support needs to be restarted. Humanitarian programming must and will continue, but the UN Country Team in Afghanistan, under the exceptional leadership of Ramiz Alakbarov, the Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator, is developing its Strategic Framework for next year, for 2023, to address these broader basic human needs.

More than 70 per cent of Afghans live in rural areas. If agriculture and livestock production are not protected, millions of lives will be risked, and the country’s capacity to produce food for its population imperilled.

Hospitals and clinics at district and national levels must be kept running, their staff employed and paid. Nutrition centres and preventive care must be maintained. These are all the basic services to which we refer. Outreach to financial institutions to mitigate against bank de-risking must be stepped up, and we must continue to work to ensure that girls and women are educated and employed and free to do so.

The consequences of inaction in both the humanitarian and development fronts will be catastrophic and difficult to reverse.

Currently, the Humanitarian Response Plan for Afghanistan has a gap of $3.14 billion, with over $600 million urgently required to support priority winter preparation, such as upgrades and repairs to shelter, warm clothes, blankets and so forth. But we are up against time. These particular contributions are needed within the next three months.

In addition, $154 million is needed to pre-position supplies, including food and livelihood assistance, before the winter weather cuts off access to certain areas. The humanitarian community has indeed stayed and delivered for the people of Afghanistan and continues to do so. It’s imperative that the international community, as reflected here, continues to do the same.

Afghanistan’s de facto authorities must do their part. Bureaucratic interferences and procedures slow down humanitarian assistance when it is needed most. Female humanitarian aid workers – both national and international – must be allowed to work unhindered and securely. And girls must be allowed to continue their education.

There are many musts, Mr. President. But there are many opportunities. The path is clear, and the dangers equally so.

The people of Afghanistan are still there. They have shown incredible resilience over the decades and in this last year. Our task is to help them to prosper, to flourish and to be safe. Thank you very much.