UN: About 97 percent of Afghanistan’s population may sink below poverty line

About 97 percent of Afghanistan’s population may sink below the poverty line unless the country’s political and economic crises are addressed, the United Nations has warned.

Report informs, citing foreign media, that the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) said that the poverty rate could increase by up to 25 percent due to the contraction of Afghanistan’s real gross domestic product (GDP). Half of the country is already in need of humanitarian support.

Even before the Taliban’s rapid takeover last month, Afghanistan was heavily aid-dependent, with more than a third of the country’s GDP drawn from foreign funding.

The UN is urging that the Taliban allow aid workers to do their jobs.

The organization has warned that 18 million people in Afghanistan face a humanitarian disaster, and the crises will be many and multipronged.

The UN appealed for almost $200m in extra funding for life-saving aid in Afghanistan after the Taliban’s seizure of power resulted in the exodus of aid workers and subsequent funding cuts.