World must not forget Afghans

The Russian invasion of Ukraine must not make the world forget Afghanistan, the UN refugee chief said late on Tuesday, warning that ignoring its humanitarian needs could be very risky.

UNHCR chief Filippo Grandi, who is on a four-day visit to Afghanistan, said the international community must continue to engage with the Taliban authorities as Afghanistan desperately needs humanitarian assistance.

"The whole attention of the world at the moment is focussed on Ukraine," Grandi, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, told AFP at a UN compound in the Afghan capital.

"But my message coming here is, don't forget the other situations, where attention and resources are needed and Afghanistan is one of them.

"The risks of distraction are very high, very high ... Humanitarian assistance has to flow no matter how many other crises compete with Afghanistan around the world."

Donor countries, UN agencies and Afghan civil society are set to take part in an online fund raising event this month. The summit would focus on delivering food, shelter and health services, particularly for women and girls.

The United Nations and other global aid agencies have said that more than half of Afghanistan's 38 million people are facing hunger this winter.

In January, the UN made its biggest-ever single-country aid appeal, calling for $5 billion to avert a humanitarian catastrophe.

But Grandi said that the war in Ukraine has already started to make it difficult to raise funds for Afghanistan. The UNHCR itself had made an appeal of $340 million for Afghanistan for 2022 but so far has managed to raise only about $100 million, he said.

Since the Taliban stormed back to power, about 200,000 internally displaced people have also returned to their homes thanks to improved security, he said.

And if the Taliban continue to make progress on issues like women's rights, then steady international aid will also continue to come to Afghanistan, Grandi added.