KABUL, 01 December 2021, (TON): The World Bank is finalising a proposal to deliver up to $500m from a frozen Afghanistan aid fund to humanitarian agencies, people familiar with the plans told media, but it leaves out tens of thousands of public sector workers and remains complicated by United States sanctions.

Board members will meet informally to discuss the proposal, hammered out in recent weeks with US and United Nations officials, to redirect the funds from the Afghanistan Reconstruction Trust Fund (ARTF), which has a total of $1.5bn.

Afghanistan’s 39 million people face a cratering economy, a winter of food shortages and growing poverty three months after the Taliban seized power as the last US troops withdrew from 20 years of war.

The sources said “Afghan experts said the aid will help, but big gaps remain, including how to get the funds into Afghanistan without exposing the financial institutions involved to US sanctions, and the lack of focus on state workers.”

They said that the money will go mainly to addressing urgent healthcare needs in Afghanistan, where less than seven percent of the population has been vaccinated against the coronavirus.”

For now, it will not cover salaries for teachers and other government workers, a policy that the experts say could hasten the collapse of Afghanistan’s public education, healthcare and social services systems.