Muslim Countries Agree to Open Humanitarian Fund for Afghanistan
Muslim countries agreed to establish a humanitarian trust fund for Afghanistan during a meeting Sunday of foreign ministers from the Organization of Islamic Cooperation in Islamabad. The fund, which will be set up with the Islamic Development Bank, is meant to assist the millions of Afghanis who are facing hunger and a lock of other basic necessities. More than 20 million people are threatened with hunger this winter.
The decision to set up the humanitarian fund came at the instigation of Pakistan, Afghanistan’s neighbor to the south. “Unless action is taken immediately, Afghanistan is heading for chaos,” Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan said during the OIC meeting.
It is not clear how the funds will be distributed. The counties at the meeting did not vote to recognize the Taliban, which took over Afghanistan at the end of August after the withrawal of US troops. The OIC did decided to appoint a special envoy on Afghanistan, however. The decision was announced as crowds gathered outside the newly reopened passport office in Kabul, with people trying to obtain passports in order to leave the country.
