Afghanistan in the precipice of permanent poverty and the role of international aid organizations

Continued international assistance (including assistance provided through the Afghanistan Reconstruction Fund) is critical to building a better future for millions of Afghans and sustaining the development gains made so far. The campaign to preserve the prosperity highlights the achievements of the projects implemented by the Afghanistan Reconstruction Fund that have been able to play a role in achieving a prosperous, inclusive and peaceful Afghanistan. www.worldbank.org/afghanistan/results

Abdullah’s son used to earn about $26 a month, which could be a small help for his family, who live in difficult conditions. He also like hundreds of other workers, who has lost his income due to the restrictions imposed due to the quarantine imposed after the spread of the Covid-19 virus, which stopped all activities and dealt a fatal blow to the Afghan economy. Abdullah, who is 65 years old, in the absence of his son’s help and cooperation, now has to ask for help from his relatives in order to obviate his needs.

Due to the negative effects of spreading the Covid-19 virus, Afghanistan has faced a dramatic increase in poverty. The analysis of the World Bank predicts that the poverty rate in Afghanistan will increase from 55% in 2017 to 72% in 2020, and the main reason for this is the decrease at income and the increase in the price of food and other vital items to meet the needs of families.

There are few reasons to celebrate World Poverty Eradication Day 2020

The restrictions imposed due to the spread of the corona virus and the in closure of markets and businesses have had a devastating effect on the Afghan economy. At the beginning of the crisis, the closing of the borders caused a disruption in imports, which led to a sharp increase in the price of raw materials. At the same time, the financial aid that was sent to Afghanistan by Afghans who living abroad also decreased due to the global economic recession.

About 15 million Afghans live in families, and more than half of their incomes comes from informal businesses.

Many Afghan families who depended on informal activities and businesses such as small retail sales or daily wage labor in the construction and agricultural sectors are particularly at risk. About 15 million Afghans lives with their families, and more than half of their income comes from informal businesses. 30% of this number live in urban areas where quarantine restrictions were applied. These households have little ability to deal with this type of economic shocks and often turn to negative coping mechanisms such as reducing expenses related to education and food or selling their assets. The lack of social support increases the risk of them falling into the circle of poverty.

Helping the poor and preparing for the rapid improvement of the situation

The World Bank has provided immediate assistance to protect the poor peoples in Afghanistan from the negative effects of the Covid-19 crisis. with the cooperation of the government and development partners of the Afghan government; The World Bank and the Afghanistan Reconstruction Fund have provided more than $1 billion since March to support the Afghan people during the Covid-19 crisis and to help the situation recover quickly.

In addition to immediate aid to Afghanistan’s health sector to address the health crisis, we support projects in the areas of education, job creation, access to health services, and support for the private sector and financial institutions to ultimately improve conditions of Afghan’s people living.

These grants include a new $100 million grant aimed at strengthening food security and agribusiness by supporting farmers and micro, small and medium businesses that operate in the food supply chain.

Also, in order to ensure that Afghanistan can perform better than before after the Covid-19 crisis, the World Bank provides another 200 million dollars in order to create flexible social protection systems, especially in the field of preparedness to fight against natural disasters.

Our support does not end here. The World Bank has reviewed the projects that are currently being implemented in Afghanistan in order to increase assistance in supporting livelihoods and help the Afghan government manage financial pressures.

The continuation of the international community’s support for Afghanistan is a vital need

Despite these supports, there are still many challenges to the complete improvement of the situation in Afghanistan. It is expected that the difficult economic conditions will continue like this. The virus has not completely disappeared yet, and with the start of the cold season, it is feared that the second wave of its spread will begin, and as a result, the quarantine will be applied again, which will hurt a large number of private companies and cause a further decrease in work.

Afghanistan has seen remarkable progress in many of its social indicators due to the rapid expansion of health services, education and infrastructure improvement, in which international aid played a major role.

In such a difficult situation, the continuation of the financial support of the international community for Afghanistan is still unclear. With the decrease in the amount of financial assistance in the security sector (which is expected to decrease in this sector in the coming years) and the end of international commitments to help the Afghanistan reconstruction fund at the end of 2020, the situation of international aid in There is an aura of ambiguity. This level of skepticism causes negative effects on the economy and increases poverty, because the private sector is unwilling to accept the risk of new investments.

While it will be challenging to fully address the effects of the Covid-19 crisis in Afghanistan, there is strong evidence to prove that continued aid from the international community can play an important

role in improving living conditions in Afghanistan. From 2001 until now, Afghanistan has witnessed remarkable progress in many of its social indicators due to the rapid expansion of health services, education and infrastructure improvement in which international aid played a major role.

The Afghanistan Reconstruction Fund has played a major role in achieving these results by arranging the aid of the international community and international aid agencies with the aim of strengthening the capacity and stable government systems, ensuring greater impact and accurate management of the risks caused by corruption and governance.

The Covid-19 crisis showed the high level of vulnerability of the development achievements of recent years in Afghanistan. We hope that international support for Afghanistan will continue. Afghanistan now more than ever has long-term and sustainable commitments in order to create a favorable environment for the improvement of the situation, and to continue efforts in the direction of eradicating poverty.