Last August, the UK announced doubling its assistance to Afghanistan. However, only £145 million out of £286 million had been disbursed. Around half the money pledged remained unspent, just months before the end of the financial year in April.
In Jan 22, the UK's Foreign and Commonwealth Office in pledged to release $133 million in emergency funds to Afghanistan, after pleas in the media from Sir Mark Lowcock, CGD non-resident fellow and former UN under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs, for the UK government to release funds. Alongside others, Mark had an impassioned letter published in the Guardian, gave an in-depth interview to Sky News, and appeared on a special episode of the BBC’s flagship documentary show, Panorama.
Sky News coverage and beyond:
- UK government must act now to save millions of lives in Afghanistan
- Sky News Twitter Thread
- 'One million children will die': UK urged to release unspent Afghanistan aid
- Afghanistan crisis: UK pledges to release more aid after grave warning a million children could die
- UK foreign office pledges to release Afghanistan cash after aid chief pleas
