The regional director of the International Federation of the Red Cross, Alexander Matheou, has joined his voice to the growing warnings that Afghanistan is ill-equipped to deal with the pending dire humanitarian crisis unless it receives the funds and aid so desperately needed to prevent the collapse of the healthcare system and starvation of the population. Associated Press reported today that Matheou warns that winter is approaching, and that parts of the country have been hit with a severe drought affecting food production. Add to this poverty, and the lack of food and funding for healthcare and other services, and the result is disaster, Matheou said. Money must be restored to pay for wages and services.
Speaking In a press conference today in Kabul following a five-day visit, he urged, “There needs to be some solution to the financial flows into Afghanistan to ensure that at least salaries can be paid, and that essential supplies, power and water being two of them, can be procured.” Independent of what the Red Cross does, Matheou added, there must be some additional sources of funding if the healthcare system is to continue to operate. To date, 2,500 health care facilities have shut down, due to lack of funding, and 20,000 staff, 7,000 of them women, aren’t being paid. While noting that the Red Cross is “unequivocal” in defending women’s rights, he added, “We put the preservation of life first.”
