US: According to the White House, the Biden administration plans to give an additional $308 million in humanitarian aid to Afghanistan, increasing total US aid to the impoverished country and Afghan refugees in the region to over $782 million since October. According to the White House, the United States is also supplying one million additional coronavirus vaccine doses to Afghanistan, bringing the total to 4.3 million doses.
The US Agency for International Development will provide shelter, health care, winterization assistance, emergency food aid, water, sanitation, and hygiene services through independent humanitarian organisations, according to the administration. According to the UN, approximately 23 million people – or about 55% of the population – are suffering from severe hunger, with about 9 million at risk of famine as winter approaches.
After the Taliban seized power in August, the former Western-backed government disintegrated and the last American forces withdrew, Afghanistan's economic situation worsened. To keep aid flowing to Afghanistan as it slides deeper into a humanitarian crisis, the US formally exempted US and UN officials doing permitted business with the Taliban from US sanctions last month.
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