Lifesaving medical supplies reached Afghanistan by air on Monday, the first UN shipment to arrive since the Taliban takeover more than a week ago.
Announcing the news, the World Health Organization (WHO) said that the successful airlift meant that it could “partially replenish” health facilities’ reserves and ensure that services can continue, for now.
As the airlifts out of Kabul end, the tragedy that has unfolded will fade from our screens. But a far greater humanitarian crisis is just beginning.
We must not turn away from the people of Afghanistan.
– @FilippoGrandi, UN High Commissioner for Refugeeshttps://t.co/HC1bn13slX
— UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency (@Refugees) August 30, 2021
Some 12.5 metric tonnes of supplies arrived in the northern airport of Mazar-i-Sharif, aboard a plane provided by the Government of Pakistan. WHO said that the shipment consisted of enough trauma and emergency health kits to cover the basic health needs of more than 200,000 people, as well as provide 3500 surgical procedures and treat 6500 trauma patients.
The supplies will be delivered immediately to 40 health facilities in 29 provinces across Afghanistan, the UN agency added.
Airbridge vital
The plane was loaded with the supplies earlier on Monday by WHO’s logistics team at the International Humanitarian City in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
It is the first of three flights planned with Pakistan International Airlines to fill urgent shortages in medicines and medical supplies in Afghanistan.
“The support of the Pakistani people has been timely and life-saving,” said Dr Ahmed Al Mandhari, WHO Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean. While WHO is working with partners to ensure more shipments to the country, the agency said a reliable humanitarian air bridge is urgently required, to scale up the collective humanitarian effort.
Tens of millions of vulnerable Afghans remain in the country and the work of meeting their needs is now just beginning, said the agency adding that the world cannot now divert its attention from the people of Afghanistan at this critical time.
International community must act
Adding his voice to the appeal the High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi has urged the international community to help the many millions in need in Afghanistan and in neighbouring countries.
In an appeal on Monday for long-term solutions for Afghans whose lives have been blighted by 40 years of war, the UN Refugee chief said that although thousands had managed to escape via Kabul airport, “there will still be millions who need the international community to act”.
UNESCO warning
Meanwhile, The UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has warned Afghanistan is at risk of seeing progress made over the last two decades totally unravel, in terms of human rights, education and international standards.
The country has made huge strides, but they must be preserved, or the country’s development will be plunged into reverse, it said.
Highlighting the challenges that lie ahead, UNESCO noted that 12 million young people and adults in Afghanistan still lack basic literacy skills, while 81 journalists were killed between 2006 and 2021, with seven fatalities so far this year.
From September 2020 to February 2021, almost one in five women journalists left the profession, due to ongoing violence and threats.
UNESCO said it was monitoring the evolving situation in Afghanistan with particular attention to issues concerning the universal right to education, freedom of expression and heritage.
It urged the international community to step up its support to the Afghan people, as what action it takes now will “serve as a benchmark for the future”.