KABUL, 01 April 2022, (TON): The UN’s aid coordination office, backed by Britain, Germany and Qatar, is launching its biggest-ever appeal for funds for a single country in hopes of collecting $4.4 billion to help Afghanistan, a decidedly ambitious call to assist the impoverished country again run by Taliban militants when much of the world’s attention is on Russia’s war in Ukraine.

Martin Griffiths, who heads the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, said “Ukraine is of vital importance, but Afghanistan, you know, calls to our soul for commitment and loyalty.”

“In simple terms, the humanitarian program that we are appealing for is to save lives.”

The UN says less than a year after Taliban fighters toppled its internationally backed government, Afghanistan is buckling beneath a debilitating humanitarian crisis and an economy in free fall. Some 23 million people face acute food insecurity.”

Griffiths told media “the economy is too weak to sustain the lives of everyday people, women, men and children.”

“Given these terrible circumstances, we are asking donors today to fund the largest humanitarian appeal ever launched for a single country: We are calling for $4.4 billion to help the people of Afghanistan, at their worst hour of need, for this year.”