China has convened a meeting of neighboring countries next month to address Afghanistan’s humanitarian crisis.
A statement from the Chinese Foreign Ministry said that senior officials from six neighboring countries, including Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, would attend the summit in Beijing.
The meeting is scheduled to begin on March 30 and last for two days.
According to the statement, economic issues and solutions to the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan will be high on the agenda.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry says all joint efforts will be made to reach out to and protect Afghans affected by the disaster and to be left alone in such dire circumstances.
Representatives from China, Iran, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan are expected to attend.
This is the third time that Afghanistan’s neighbors have met to discuss the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan. Similar meetings have been held in Islamabad and Tehran.
Efforts are underway at the regional level to address the crisis in Afghanistan. The Turkish aid train has just arrived in Afghanistan and delivered more than 900 tons of essential items to help the needy families.
The Taliban have recently praised India’s aid for wheat and medicine, saying Malaysia has also sent winter clothes to Kabul.
The United Nations has once again called for urgent humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan.
A UNHCR delegation that conducted a recent humanitarian assessment said 24 million Afghans, or 59 percent of the country’s population, were in dire straits and needed to be rescued.
The head of the delegation, Reina Giuliani, said: “The pain and suffering of Afghans is greater than we can imagine. The people we see need immediate assistance. Humanitarian agencies are committed to helping Afghans unconditionally.”
“Whatever humanitarian assistance we want for Afghanistan this year is the shortest in the history of humanitarian aid,” she said.
Humanitarian agencies also said the need for aid had increased by 30 percent over the previous year.
Unemployment has risen in Afghanistan since the Taliban took control of Kabul, prices have risen and the afghani has fallen against foreign currencies.
