Anjali Sharma
GG News Bureau
UNITED NATIONS, 22nd May. World Food Programme on Tuesday warned that the devastating floods that hit Afghanistan are likely to intensify in the coming months, exacerbating the critical food insecurity in the affected districts.
WFP said that as erratic weather on the back of the worsening climate crisis “becomes the norm”, things will only get worse.
It said that unusually high rainfall followed a dry winter, rendering the ground too hard to absorb water, leading to massive flooding.
Unseasonably warm temperatures further complicated the situation by melting mountain snow, causing rivers to overflow and inundating villages with mud.
Hsiao-Wei Lee, WFP Country Director for Afghanistan said “With one disaster after another hitting these communities, they are being pushed back into destitution. Recent improvements in food security in Afghanistan now risk being lost,”
“These families need emergency assistance to survive, and in the longer term, they need investments in community infrastructure that help protect their homes, lands and livelihoods.”
Floods due to heavy rains caused severe destruction in Ghor and Faryab provinces, in northwest Afghanistan, WFP said.
Over 130 people are reported to have died, hundreds more are missing, and thousands of houses and businesses have been destroyed or damaged.
Access is a major challenge with many villages cut off and humanitarians are struggling to reach affected regions.
The search and rescue operations continue, the number of casualties is expected to rise.
WFP highlighted the urgent need for more international support and intervention to address the growing humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan.
The northeast Afghanistan was struck by heavy rains and flash floods, affected Badakhshan, Baghlan and Takhar provinces.
Some 180 people are confirmed to have been killed and 280 injured.
WFP provided fortified biscuits and nutritional supplements to children, and worked with local bakeries to distribute bread to the hardest-hit communities.
The agency began distributing food rations and cash assistance in functional market areas.
WFP requires $14.5 million to cover emergency food and nutrition assistance and resilience building projects.
To mitigate future disasters, it is investing in climate adaptation projects, including the construction of protective walls, dams, and irrigation canals.
WFP-supported flood wall in Baghlan protected 670 families and 400 acres of agricultural land during the heavy rains.
Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs, Rosemary DiCarlo visited Afghanistan from 18 to 21 May, where she met Taliban officials, members of the diplomatic community in Kabul and representatives of civil society.
According to UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric in New York the discussions focused on the meeting of Special Envoys on Afghanistan, which the UN is organizing in Doha, on 30 June and 1 July.
The meeting aims to increase international engagement with Afghanistan in a more coherent, coordinated and structured manner.
“She extended to the de facto Minister of Foreign Affairs, Amir Khan Muttaqi, an advance invitation from the Secretary-General to participate at the forthcoming meeting of Special Envoys,” Mr. Dujarric told journalists at the regular press briefing in New York.
He added that Taliban leaders did not attend the last round of the meeting, held in February.
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