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 McGroarty.

Mary-Ellen McGroarty: “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.”