By Haruna Gimba
More than 634,000 Afghans have been displaced by conflicts in 2021, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Afghanistan, said on Thursday.
A total of 634,800 people had been verified as having been displaced by conflicts as of Sept. 12, 2021, out of which 282,246 displaced people had received assistance, the agency said in a report.
The report came as the security situation in Afghanistan remained stable since the Taliban’s takeover of the country in mid-August.
Afghan officials and humanitarian agencies had expressed concern over the living condition of the displaced families, mostly women and children, who have no access to health facilities and schooling.
According to the OCHA, more than 28,000 people have been affected by natural disasters across Afghanistan this year.
The UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres had on Monday raised concern over the possibility of a complete economic collapse in Afghanistan, saying that there was urgent need for funding support.
He spoke at a high-level ministerial meeting on Afghanistan’s humanitarian situation in Geneva.
On Tuesday, the UN appealed to the countries that pledged 1.2 billion U.S. dollars in relief for Afghanistan to take action quickly.
