21 mln people in Afghanistan facing severe cuts in relief due to funding gaps: UN

United Nations, August 5: UN humanitarians on Friday warned of critical aid funding gaps for more than 21 million people in Afghanistan, saying that some relief already has been trimmed.
With more than halfway through the year, the 3.2 billion U.S. dollar appeal to aid almost half the population across Afghanistan is less than 25 percent funded, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said.
"We face critical funding gaps amounting to 1.3 billion U.S. dollars, with many programs already ended or considerably scaled back due to insufficient resources and aid pipelines at risk of imminent rupture, including for food assistance," OCHA said.
The humanitarian office said it only has a short window of opportunity to procure and position vital assistance and supplies before the lean season and winter begin.
After 20 years of fighting between government forces and the Taliban ended two years ago, Afghanistan has been in a severe economic decline.
Source: Xinhua