The devastating earthquake this week in Afghanistan is one more emergency facing the country, which is also confronting its worst drought in 30 years, and widespread poverty.
Afghanistan also has the highest number of people in the world facing the risk of famine, and there are increasing human rights breaches by the country’s new Taliban rulers, senior UN officials said on Thursday.
The grim picture for Afghanistan’s 38 million people was presented by UN humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths and the UN deputy special representative for Afghanistan, Ramiz Alakbarov.
They spoke during a Security Council meeting on the situation in Afghanistan, which was scheduled before Wednesday’s powerful quake in the east that Afghan state media said killed 1,000 people.
Hundreds more have been injured and officials have warned the casualty figures could rise as Afghans were still digging through the rubble to retrieve more bodies on Thursday.
Mr Griffiths said in a video briefing that “dramatic shifts in Afghanistan’s political and economic landscape” since the Taliban seized power last August “have brought unrelenting human suffering to the country’s people".
“Afghanistan’s worst drought in almost 30 years has affected three-quarters of its provinces, meaning crop production is expected to be below average this harvest,” he said.
Mr Griffiths said 25 million people, or two thirds of the population, live in poverty, more than double the number in 2011, including 6.6 million at “emergency” levels.
“That’s the highest number of any country in the world at risk of famine-like conditions,” he said.
Mr Alakbarov, the top UN official in Afghanistan, plans to visit quake-hit areas on Friday.
He said in a video briefing from Kabul that the quake “was yet another tragic reminder of the myriad dangers facing the Afghan people".
Mr Alakbarov said the security environment “is becoming increasingly unpredictable” with the emergence of armed opposition groups to the Taliban, “in large part due to political exclusion”, leading to clashes, especially in Panjshir and Baghlan provinces.
“Armed opposition attacks against de facto authorities doubled in May, compared to April,” he said.
Mr Alakbarov said Afghan families were grateful for humanitarian aid but they wanted jobs, a chance to look to the future and safety, which also means freedom of movement for women and men.
Mr Griffiths called the humanitarian response in the country “complex and difficult,” saying the formal banking system continues to block financial transfers, with about 80 per cent of aid organisations facing delays in transferring funds.
A second “impediment,” he said, was that the Taliban across the country increasingly seek “to play a role in the selection of beneficiaries and channelling assistance to people on their own priority lists".
Aid organisations struggle to hire women, Mr Griffiths said, and “there are more instances of interference today than in previous months.”
The UN also faces “a 66 per cent funding gap — a staggering, nearly $3 billion funding shortfall for the last six months of 2022", he said.
“Early funding and early action will be critical to avert a catastrophe this winter,” Mr Griffiths said.
The Specs
Price, base Dh379,000
Engine 2.9-litre, twin-turbo V6
Gearbox eight-speed automatic
Power 503bhp
Torque 443Nm
On sale now
Email sent to Uber team from chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi
From: Dara
To: Team@
Date: March 25, 2019 at 11:45pm PT
Subj: Accelerating in the Middle East
Five years ago, Uber launched in the Middle East. It was the start of an incredible journey, with millions of riders and drivers finding new ways to move and work in a dynamic region that’s become so important to Uber. Now Pakistan is one of our fastest-growing markets in the world, women are driving with Uber across Saudi Arabia, and we chose Cairo to launch our first Uber Bus product late last year.
Today we are taking the next step in this journey—well, it’s more like a leap, and a big one: in a few minutes, we’ll announce that we’ve agreed to acquire Careem. Importantly, we intend to operate Careem independently, under the leadership of co-founder and current CEO Mudassir Sheikha. I’ve gotten to know both co-founders, Mudassir and Magnus Olsson, and what they have built is truly extraordinary. They are first-class entrepreneurs who share our platform vision and, like us, have launched a wide range of products—from digital payments to food delivery—to serve consumers.
I expect many of you will ask how we arrived at this structure, meaning allowing Careem to maintain an independent brand and operate separately. After careful consideration, we decided that this framework has the advantage of letting us build new products and try new ideas across not one, but two, strong brands, with strong operators within each. Over time, by integrating parts of our networks, we can operate more efficiently, achieve even lower wait times, expand new products like high-capacity vehicles and payments, and quicken the already remarkable pace of innovation in the region.
This acquisition is subject to regulatory approval in various countries, which we don’t expect before Q1 2020. Until then, nothing changes. And since both companies will continue to largely operate separately after the acquisition, very little will change in either teams’ day-to-day operations post-close. Today’s news is a testament to the incredible business our team has worked so hard to build.
It’s a great day for the Middle East, for the region’s thriving tech sector, for Careem, and for Uber.
Uber on,
Dara
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The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
Torque: 450Nm at 6,100rpm
Transmission: 7-speed PDK auto or 6-speed manual
Fuel economy, combined: 13.8L/100km
On sale: Available to order now
Avatar%20(2009)
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