Guterres also appealed to the Taliban movement to stop not fulfilling its promises to allow women to work, and to allow girls to enroll in all levels of education.
The Secretary-General of the United Nations, said that 80 percent of the Afghan economy is informal, in which women play a very large role, and “without them there is no way for the Afghan economy and society to recover.”
He also said that the United Nations urgently appeals to countries to inject liquidity into the Afghan economy, which before the Taliban seized power last August depended on international aid, which made up 75 percent of state spending.
The country is suffering from a liquidity crisis, as assets are still frozen in the United States and other countries, and international organizations have suspended financial allocations that they were pumping into Afghanistan.
“Now, with assets frozen and development aid temporarily suspended, the economy is collapsing…banks are closing and essential services like health care are suspended in many places,” Guterres told reporters at the UN headquarters in New York as well.
He explained that pumping liquidity to prevent Afghanistan’s economic collapse is separate from recognizing the Taliban, lifting sanctions, unfreezing frozen assets or restoring international aid.
Guterres noted that money could be pumped into the Afghan economy “without violating international laws or compromising principles.”
He further noted that this can be done through United Nations agencies and a trust fund, managed by the United Nations Development Program, as well as non-governmental organizations operating in the country.
He added that the World Bank could also set up a trust fund.
Leaders of the world’s 20 largest economies – the Group of Twenty – will hold an extraordinary meeting on Tuesday, to discuss the complex issues related to Afghanistan.
On the issue of “injecting liquidity into the Afghan economy,” Guterres said: “I think the international community is moving very slowly.”
.