TOKYO (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 21st December, 2021) Japan will allocate about $109 million from the country's supplementary budget to assist Afghanistan and its neighboring countries to address the humanitarian crisis in the region, the Japanese Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday.
"On December 20, the Government of Japan decided to contribute a total of approximately 109 million US Dollars from the FY2021 supplementary budget to Afghanistan and its neighboring countries to address the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan," the ministry said in a statement.
Tokyo intends to provide assistance to address humanitarian needs in such areas as healthcare, food, nutrition, water, sanitation and livelihood improvement. The funds will be allocated through 16 international organizations, including UN agencies, International Committee of the Red Cross, International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, International Organization for Migration, World Health Organization and Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe.
According to the statement, $100 million will be allocated to Afghanistan, $4.01 million to Iran, $3.72 million to Pakistan, $0.99 million to Tajikistan and $0.43 million to Uzbekistan.
The Taliban (under UN sanctions for terrorist activities) came to power in Afghanistan in September. Amid political turmoil exacerbating an exodus of its citizens, a number of governments and organizations have provided various assistance to the population battered by the deepening economic, humanitarian, and security crisis in the country. Afghanistan's neighbors, especially Iran and Pakistan, have hosted a huge number of Afghan asylum seekers, who have increasingly escaped from their homeland after the Taliban takeover in fear of the movement.
