As the international community attempts to help Afghanistan rebuild, the Taliban insurgency and illegal opium growing remain among the largest detriments to peace and security. A no less deadly factor that also continues to threaten the well-being of Afghans is hunger. According to a recent article on Eurasianet, Afghans die from hunger and poverty each year (40,000) at a rate 25 times higher than those who die from conflict. The article also discusses the effects that the global food crisis has had on Afghanistan and the challenges of ensuring food security there.
To address the problem of Afghanistan’s food security, the UN requested $600 million under the Humanitarian Action Plan for Afghanistan, announced in early February 2009. UN Under-Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs John Holmes announced that $354 million, the largest disbursement of money under the plan, would be used to provide food for nearly one third of the population.
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Afghanistan has become the biggest challenge for the Obama administration. Barack Obama’s policy will be tested here and it will be curiously seen how he tackled the situations there.
The active engagement with Iran and Russia is the key to the solution of Afghanistan. As the hunger there is prevailing more and more young Afghan may lured to the path of terrorism. Obama needs to keep this in mind that the era of hard power has gone.
http://www.mani101blog.blogspot.com
I think, judging by the influx of 17,000 American troops into Afghanistan this coming year, that Obama still believes in ‘hard power.’ This food crisis issue is indeed crucial and the UN’s aggressive move to provide over $300 million in aid and US needs to make sure to help this aid find the right mouths.
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