Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- Over the past 20 years, the international community has pumped billions of dollars into Afghanistan. Nevertheless, today about 70% of Afghans live below the poverty line.

The Donor Conference for Afghanistan in Geneva is taking place at a historic and critical time. On the one hand, Kabul’s international partners must cope with the consequences of the global pandemic in their countries. On the other hand, the government of Afghanistan is also in crisis: peace negotiations with the Taliban are practically not progressing.

At the same time, violence in Afghanistan continues to grow. At the last donor conference four years ago, countries provided US$15 billion to Afghanistan, while Germany alone allocated US$1.7 billion. Meanwhile, about 60% of the country’s national budget is still funded by foreign funds.

Meanwhile, Kabul is often criticized for widespread corruption. According to the US Special Inspector General for Afghanistan’s Reconstruction, in the past 10 years alone, about US$19 billion in aid has not been used as intended. For this reason, donors are expected to cut aid to Kabul by 20% this year.

Against this backdrop, Afghan donors are increasingly concerned about the situation of the Taliban. In the light of the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan in accordance with the US-Taliban peace agreement, Taliban may gain even more influence in the country: donors fear that progress achieved, including through their funds, for example, with respect to human rights development or education women can be reduced to zero.

Meanwhile, the global pandemic has seriously affected Afghanistan. At the same time, Afghans face various problems: many were left without work, most need security. The bulk of the population is in a poor economic situation. In these conditions, international humanitarian organizations warn that it is this year that a large-scale famine may occur in Afghanistan. In this context, experts call on international donors to increase the volume of aid to Afghanistan.