UK govt pledges to match £10m public donations to Afghanistan appeal

The UK government says it will match the first £10 million of donations from the British public to the Disasters Emergency Committee’s (DEC) Afghanistan Appeal.

Money raised from the appeal will support 13 leading British charities and their local partners, helping them to provide emergency food and nutrition to children, support healthcare facilities and deliver winter kits to displaced families. The charities will also supply clean drinking water and protect women and girls.

The World Food Programme has warned over half the Afghan population are facing acute hunger and are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance this winter.

Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said: “The British people have shown incredible generosity and the UK is determined to do all we can for the people of Afghanistan. We have doubled our aid this year to save lives, protect women and girls and support stability in the region.

“The support is part of the £286 million the UK has pledged to give to Afghanistan this year. £125 million has already been allocated through the UN and aid agencies to support more than 3.4 million people with emergency food, health, shelter, water and protection.”

UK aid funding will be channelled through trusted partners with significant experience delivering humanitarian aid in fragile contexts and conflict-affected states.

The government says that no funding will go directly to the Taliban.

At the G7 meetings in Liverpool last week the Foreign Secretary called for greater international cooperation to tackle the humanitarian crisis, preserve regional stability, protect the gains of the last 20 years and to stress to the Taliban the essential need for Afghan girls of all ages to go back to school.