A delegation of the Taliban arrived in Geneva this week to meet with NGOs and other officials. WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus also met with the delegation as they discussed the current crisis that Afghanistan is facing.
Al Jazeera reports Ghebreyesus said Wednesday that he met with the health minister of the Taliban government of Afghanistan for discussions on the current health and humanitarian crisis hitting the country. Ghebreyesus met with Qalander Ebad for the discussions Tuesday. This would be the second time the WHO chief and Ebad meet, with the two meeting during a visit to Kabul in September 2021.
“Despite some improvements since then, the health situation in Afghanistan is still dire and the acute humanitarian crisis is continuing to put lives at risk,” said the WHO chief.
“The acute need in Afghanistan is to deliver diagnostics to detect the COVID-19 virus, and in particular Omicron, as the number of cases is on the rise,” Ghebreyesus continued, also saying that he discussed the health needs of Afghans with Ebad, strengthening the system, emergency preparedness, and training in the workforce.
Ghebreyesus said that the WHO was supporting the COVID-19 response in Afghanistan, including the country’s polio and measles vaccination campaigns.
The Taliban delegation traveled to Switzerland at the invitation of the Geneva Call, an organization working to protect civilians in the midst of conflict. They are set to speak with Swiss ministry representatives as well as NGOs with human rights and the humanitarian crisis expected to be on the agenda of the talks.
The United Nations is looking to launch this month a new system to exchange millions of dollars in aid to Afghan currency in another effort to tackle the country’s humanitarian and economic crisis, according to Reuters. This also comes as international banks and financial institutions halted their financial assistance out of fear that it might breach sanctions imposed by the UN and the US on Taliban officials.
A note by the organization that was written last month, detailed a Humanitarian Exchange Facility that was described as “urgently needed.” The new effort comes as millions of Afghans are facing extreme hunger with their economy, social services, and education are on the brink of a collapse.