Opinion | Why China should step up aid to Afghanistan

Arshad Malik, Afghanistan director of the humanitarian non-governmental organisation Save the Children, has said that “lives and livelihoods have been washed away” and “children have lost everything”. According to the NGO, 40,000 children are now homeless. The number of dead and displaced is expected to rise over the coming days before floodwaters ease.

Only last month, floods killed dozens of people in Afghanistan, leaving thousands of people in need of humanitarian assistance. Last July, flash flooding affected an estimated 6,000 people across eight provinces, killing 40 and injuring 30.

A combination of dry plains and propensity for intense rainfall makes Afghanistan especially vulnerable to climate change, meaning the country will increasingly swing between drought and flooding.

02:53

At least 315 killed in deadly flash floods in northern Afghanistan

The Taliban has come under fire for its response to the floods, accused of being slow to act by affected communities. Many villages have been left to undertake their own rescue efforts to save those trapped by floods. For its part, the Taliban has told the media that it was delivering food and medicine to flood-hit areas and “searching for any possible victims under the mud and rubble”.

The reality is international aid agencies have picked up the Taliban’s slack. The World Food Programme, Médecins Sans Frontières and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies have all been providing life-saving aid. This is a common theme in Afghanistan, with the country perpetually reliant on aid for disaster response and to simply keep the country running. This was all but confirmed by the Taliban’s economic minister, who asked the United Nations to intervene.

This is not the first time the group has been accused of inaction. Last October, it was slammed for its slow response to a series of earthquakes that devastated Herat province and killed thousands. At the time, aid agencies said the Taliban was ill-prepared and accused the group of interference and poor management.

Admittedly, this is not all the Taliban’s fault. The international community’s rapid withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021 left the country isolated and in chaos. The freezing of donor funding left the country bankrupt and caused a humanitarian crisis, making it vulnerable to natural disasters. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs estimates more than half the population still requires humanitarian assistance.

Volunteers distribute aid among people affected by floods in Shirjalal village, Baghlan province, Afghanistan on May 12. Photo: EPA-EFE

Afghanistan clearly needs help. The Taliban needs to look to the international community to solve the problems the country faces, especially when it comes to natural disasters.

The answer could be China, with Beijing having engaged with the Taliban since its return to power. While China has not officially recognised the group, it sent an ambassador to Kabul in 2023 and welcomed a Taliban envoy to Beijing earlier this year, acknowledging Taliban rule in all but name. China has also sought to invest in Afghanistan, looking to benefit from the country’s untouched mineral wealth.

China also has a long history of dealing with floods and earthquakes. Only last year, southern China was hit by floods that killed four people and displaced tens of thousands. Like Afghanistan, China is increasingly vulnerable to a changing climate and is taking steps to mitigate against that vulnerability – expertise the Taliban could use.

But while China has been keen to invest in Afghanistan for economic and political gain, it has lagged in providing humanitarian assistance. Beijing has said it has provided the Taliban with 300 million yuan (US$41.5 million) over the last two years, far less than the US$2 billion provided by the United States since August 2021. China can clearly do more when it comes to humanitarian aid.

This presents an opportunity for both parties. The Taliban can demonstrate rare leadership and show Afghans it can govern effectively by working to solve some of the country’s most complex problems.

China can get a jump on the West and invest further in Afghanistan and its people, helping to rebuild the country and making it a safer and more secure place to do business. It would appear to be a win-win scenario.

The stakes are high for the Taliban. After more than two years in power, the de facto rulers of Afghanistan have little to show for it. Unless they can prove to Afghans they are capable of running the country, they will never have legitimacy at home or abroad.

China can be the solution, if the Taliban is not too proud to ask.

Chris Fitzgerald is a freelance journalist and project coordinator for the Platform for Peace and Humanity’s Central Asia Programme

Read original article here

Denial of responsibility! Chronicles Live is an automatic aggregator of the all world’s media. In each content, the hyperlink to the primary source is specified. All trademarks belong to their rightful owners, all materials to their authors. If you are the owner of the content and do not want us to publish your materials, please contact us by email – chronicleslive.com. The content will be deleted within 24 hours.

Leave a Comment Cancel reply