NEW YORK, 27 September 2021, (TON): A UN official warned in an interview “Afghanistan is at risk of "imminent hunger" with winter approaching and services disrupted by the return to power of the Taliban.”

Natalia Kanem, director of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), said via video that the situation in the country was dire.

Kanem warned "it would not be an exaggeration to say" that at least a third of Afghanistan's population of around 33 million is affected by "imminent hunger".

She added “Harsh winters, disrupting the ability to transport supplies to isolated areas of the mountainous country, plus the coronavirus pandemic will aggravate an already complicated situation.”

Kanem told media from the UNFPA headquarters in New York"There is a lot of anxiety over how we're going to deliver health care, where the next meal is going to come from.”

The doctor from Panama warned that women and girls would bear the worst of it.

It is urgent, for women and girls in particular who were already suffering. This is one of the countries with the highest death during childbirth and pregnancy rates.

She said "we cannot underscore enough that even during a transitional period, women and girls have human rights and these are to be respected.”