The United Kingdom pledged an additional 286 million pounds (375 million dollars, 338 million euros) for Afghanistan on Wednesday, ahead of a donors’ conference organized with the UN on Thursday to raise more than $4 billion.
“This new funding will be distributed through UN partners and trusted NGOs. No funding will go directly to the Taliban,” British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said in a statement.
The United Kingdom, which had already donated £286 million to Afghanistan in fiscal year 2021-2022, thus renewed its contribution.
According to the head of British diplomacy, this aid has served more than 60 hospitals, provided medical care to more than 300,000 people, allowed almost 4.5 million to receive emergency food aid through the World Food Program (WFP) and helped 6.1 million people thanks to the UN humanitarian fund for Afghanistan.
During Thursday’s conference, Truss will pledge to put girls’ education at the heart of Britain’s response and urge the Taliban to reverse their decision to bar girls from going to secondary school, she said in a statement.
The UN announced in January that it needs $4.4 billion from donor countries to fund humanitarian needs in Afghanistan this year, the largest amount ever requested for a single country.
According to London, United Nations estimates that some 10 million children are in urgent need of humanitarian aid in Afghanistan.