Pakistan organizes international meeting to discuss aid for Afghanistan

carleyshaffer1December 19, 2021

TOPSHOT – A Taliban fighter walks past people waiting to enter the passport office at a checkpoint in Kabul on December 19, 2021, after Afghanistan’s Taliban authorities said they will resume issuing passports. (Photo by MOHD RASFAN/AFP via Getty Images)

OAN Newsroom
UPDATED 2:43 PM PT – Sunday, December 19, 2021

A number of Middle Eastern nations have agreed to provide economic and humanitarian aid for Afghanistan.

A number of Muslim Middle Eastern nations met in Islamabad, Pakistan on Sunday to discuss providing aid to Afghanistan, which is under Taliban rule. Officials admitted the meeting would establish an international recognition of Taliban rule, but later asserted the focus of the meeting would be “not to abandon Afghanistan.”

The nations agreed to create a fund to build back Afghanistan’s banks, as well as providing a trust fund for humanitarian efforts.

The 17th Extraordinary Session of OIC Council of Foreign Ministers is underway in National Assembly of Pakistan.

The key focus of this conference is to devise a strategy to address the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan.#OICInPakistan #OIC4Afg pic.twitter.com/uBV4W8LMQ9

— Prime Minister’s Office, Pakistan (@PakPMO) December 19, 2021

“The conference has agreed and it was required to establish a humanitarian trust fund,” said Minister of Foreign Affairs Shah Mahmood Qureshi. “Two, they have agreed and we have all agreed to launch a food security program for Afghanistan.”

The region is reportedly in crisis under Taliban rule, facing not only a humanitarian crisis, but also a major economic depression following the U.S. pullout.