Humanitarian actors need urgent funding to aid Afghans, says UN official

http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=33792&Cr=afghan&Cr1=

Humanitarian actors need urgent funding to aid Afghans, says UN official

Robert Watkins, Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Afghanistan


17 February 2010 – A senior United Nations official today appealed for support for a nearly $900 million plan to assist Afghanistan’s most vulnerable communities who have been affected by natural disasters and conflict, as well as to support longer-term development and reconstruction.

Known as the Humanitarian Action Plan (HAP) 2010, the $870.5 million appeal covers areas such as health, nutrition, and water and sanitation, among others. It aims to improve the coordination of humanitarian programming and activities by identifying, prioritizing and addressing the most acute needs in Afghanistan.

The UN Deputy Special Representative in Afghanistan noted that the country ranks 181 out of 182 countries listed on the UN Human Development Index and suffers from chronic poverty.

“One effect of this underdevelopment is that national institutions do not have the capacity or necessary resources to support the humanitarian needs of the affected population,” Robert Watkins told a news conference in Kabul.

“The HAP sets out to address this institutional gap and to mitigate the effects of hazards and conflict for the protection of the most vulnerable populations.”

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