The original content of Democracy Now! Headlines appears under the Creative
Commons BY-NC-ND 3.0 License (United States). For more, including their other
shows and media, visit www.democracynow.org.
October 7, 2021

U.N. to Pay Salaries of Aid Workers in Afghanistan
--------------------------------------------------

In Afghanistan, a U.N. agency will start paying to keep the country's
fragile healthcare infrastructure afloat after the flow of international
aid dollars, which the health sector relied upon, dried up following the
Taliban takeover in August. This includes paying the salaries of at
least 25,000 health workers. Last month, the Biden administration
granted special licenses to some organizations, including the U.N., to
engage in transactions with the Taliban, which is under U.S. sanctions.
Meanwhile, the humanitarian situation is becoming increasingly dire.
This is Afghanistan Director of the World Food Programme Mary-Ellen Mc
Groarty.

Mary-Ellen Mc Groarty: "The 38 million Afghans who still live in the
country are adjusting to a new reality. It is incredibly sad. And over
the weeks, a humanitarian crisis has just escalated and magnified at an
incredible pace. It's a crisis that has its roots in decades of conflict
and the increasing pressures of climate change."



.