UN sets up special trust fund for 'people's economy' in Afghanistan

The United Nations said on Thursday it had set up a special trust fund to provide urgently needed cash directly to Afghans through a system tapping into donor funds frozen since the Taliban takeover in August.

With the local economy "imploding", the aim is to inject liquidity into Afghan households to permit them to survive this winter and remain in their homeland, it said.

Some 97% of Afghan households could be living below the poverty line by mid-2022, according to United Nations Development Programme.