Ramesh Rajasingham, the acting Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, has raised deep concerns over the fragile humanitarian situation in Afghanistan, saying that war and the COVID-19 pandemic will increase the number of Afghans who need humanitarian assistance from the current 11 million to an estimated 16 million next year.

“Afghanistan was already a country where according to the World Bank 93 percent of the country live on less than two dollars a day, so you had a poverty level in the country that was already very high, on the top of it you put COVID-19 crisis, so you have a massive catastrophe as a result, what we estimate is that between this year and our prediction for next year, there will be an increase of 5 million people that we need to address with humanitarian assistance,” said Rajasnigham.

In an interview with TOLOnews, Rajasingham said that 93 percent of the population in Afghanistan is living on less than a two-dollar daily wage.

“In 2020, we needed 1.1 billion dollars for Afghanistan, we have received about half of that, we have seen all of the global difficulties in fundraising may be because of COVID-19. In 2021, we estimate that we will need 1.3 billion dollars,” he said.

Gulnaz and her six children were living in Chahaba district of Takhar province and were displaced from their native area due to war and violence. Gulnaz has now sought refuge in Kunduz province.

“We noticed that we can't live here, I don’t have an elder son, their father has broken his shoulder, so we decided to come to Kunduz to get some assistance,” said Gulnaz.

“So far the plight of the displaced people has not been addressed, survey teams have not reached out to them for help,” said Amruddin Wali, a member of Kunduz's provincial council.

Rajasingham said that the COVID-19 pandemic has also put significant strain on the economies of the donor nations, stating that there is a possibility that the donors will reduce their humanitarian aid to Afghanistan.

He expressed hope that the peace process will reach a successful conclusion so that the process of reconstruction will be expedited in the country.