UK govt doubles aid for Afghanistan, says high commissioner

British High Commissioner to Pakistan Christian Turner on Wednesday has said that the United Kingdom has doubled its aid for Afghanistan to £286 million but said the challenge of channelling the funds into the country remains.

Turner, in an interview with BBC Radio 4, said that the World Food Programme is currently reaching around 17 million vulnerable people and other non-governmental organisations (NGOs) are getting access in the country.

When asked about the UK government's role, Turn said that apart from the £286 million, the foreign secretary had announced at the G7 meeting that a further £75 million would be given to Afghanistan to address its humanitarian needs.

Turner reiterated that funding was not a major challenge, as $1.2 billion had been pledged at a “big event in Geneva”.

He further highlighted that there was no scarcity of food and fuel within Afghanistan and that neighbouring countries, like Pakistan, possess the ability to provide these things.

“The problem is that there is a liquidity shortage. There is no cash in the economy,” he said.

Read: Medicines worth Rs160 million donated to Afghanistan

The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) on Sunday set up a humanitarian fund, to be operated by the Islamic Development Bank, to help avert humanitarian and economic crises in Afghanistan, as Prime Minister Imran Khan warned that the neighbouring country could potentially become the “biggest man-made crisis” if the world did not act.

The announcement of the fund was part of the measures the 57-member Islamic bloc agreed upon after the 17th Extraordinary Session of the Council of Foreign Ministers of OIC hosted by Pakistan.