New Delhi

Since the Taliban took control of Afghanistan, the country has been struggling to battle poverty. Amid concerns of rising poverty and starvation, various aid agencies distributed food, blankets and cash to nearly 130 displaced families in Kabul. 

Advertisment

UNHCR spokesperson Babar Baloch said that around 9 million Afghans are "just one step away from starvation." He further added that 700,000 people, mostly women and children, have been displaced this year alone.

The distribution was overseen by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the World Food Programme (WFP) and the Danish aid agency DACAAR.

"It's a story of hunger, of conflict, of poverty and now winter is coming as well. Afghans need help desperately and quickly," said Baloch.

Advertisment

Also read | 'Work hard': Taliban to offer wheat in exchange of work to reduce poverty and starvation

Meanwhile, UN special envoy Deborah Lyons has asked world leaders to come together and help Afghanistan from falling into extreme poverty as the UN warned that Afghanistan is on the brink of 'universal poverty'.

Lyons has warned that Afghanistan’s economy and culture are on the brink of total collapse of the country and has also said that this can lead to the spread of Islamic State to the neighbouring countries.

Advertisment

To battle growing poverty, the Taliban has also launched a programme in which they will exchange wheat for labour. "This is an important step for fighting unemployment," Zabihullah Mujahid said. 

Also read | Afghan girls learn, code 'underground' to bypass Taliban curbs

Under the new scheme, nearly 40,000 men will be employed in Kabul and thousands of more people around the country. The food-for-work scheme will pay labourers in form of wheat, rather than cash.

The Taliban government is aiming to distribute 11,600 tons of wheat in Kabul, and nearly 55,000 tons in cities such as Herat, Jalalabad, Kandahar, Mazar-i-Sharif and Pol-i-Khomri, and a few more areas.