Secretary-General Antonio Guterres also said that the country is facing a dire humanitarian crisis and the UN aid effort is desperately short of funding ‘It is the largest humanitarian crisis in the world today … 6 million Afghan children, women and men are a step away from famine,’ he warned NEW YORK CITY: UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres vowed on Tuesday that the organization will continue to provide humanitarian aid to the people of Afghanistan and defend the rights of women and girls in the country. Speaking in the Qatari capital, Doha, after a two-day, closed-door meeting he convened to discuss the situation in the country, he said there had been a constructive exchange of views. The aim of the meeting, he added, was to develop a common international strategy for responding to a situation in which millions of Afghans are facing a dire humanitarian crisis and the rights of women and girls are under assault, including bans on attending school and university, or working for international aid organizations. The ruling Taliban were not included in the meeting and Guterres stressed it should not be viewed as “recognition of Taliban de facto authority,” but rather as an effort by the international community to work together in the best interests of the people of Afghanistan. He said the participants agreed on the need for a strategy for engagement that would allow the stabilization of the country. He said he was happy to convene the meeting after the UN Security Council unanimously adopted Resolution 2681 on April 27, which condemned a Taliban ban on women in the country working for the UN and other nongovernmental organizations that “undermines human rights and humanitarian principles.” Guterres painted a bleak picture of the worsening humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan under the Taliban. He also criticized the group for their hard-line policies on women and girls, and an increase in drug trafficking. The Taliban regained control of the country almost two years ago, after waging a 20-year insurgency against the Western forces that had controlled it since the US-led invasion in 2001 but withdrew in August 2021. Despite initial assurances that they would preserve women’s rights, the Taliban first banned girls from going to high school and later banned women from studying at university. The US government has imposed sanctions on the Taliban and frozen billions of dollars of Afghanistan’s Central Bank reserves held in the US. Guterres also said a persistent terrorist presence remains in Afghanistan and that the Taliban “lacks inclusivity” because it refuses to share power with other ethnic and political groups. Regarding the humanitarian crisis, the UN chief said it is grave and immediate assistance is required. “It’s difficult to overestimate the gravity of the situation in Afghanistan,” he added. “It is the largest humanitarian crisis in the world today.” Guterres said 97 percent of Afghans are living in poverty and two-thirds of the population, 28 million people, need humanitarian assistance. “Six million Afghan children, women and men are a step away from famine conditions,” he warned. The UN humanitarian response plan for Afghanistan is seeking $4.6 billion in donations but has only collected $294 million, or 6.4 percent of the required amount. He said this funding is critical and is “evaporating” but stressed that it is not the only concern the UN has about the humanitarian situation. The vast majority of aid workers providing vital help and support to vulnerable groups are Afghan nationals and many of them are women. The Taliban ban on women working for national and international nongovernmental organizations is therefore “unacceptable” and “puts lives in jeopardy,” Guterres said. “Let me be crystal clear,” he added. “We will never be silent in the face of unprecedented, systemic attacks on women’s and girls’ rights. We will always speak out when millions of women and girls are being silenced, which is a grave violation of fundamental human rights.” The Taliban’s treatment of women also violates Afghan and international laws, he said.