UN calling for $600M for Afghanistan after Taliban takeover

The United Nations is working to raise more than $600 million for Afghanistan after the Taliban overran the country last month.

The U.N. on Monday is set to host a conference with high-level donors to help raise money for emergency funds to support Afghanistan, according to The Associated Press.

The U.N. and its partners are reportedly hoping to accumulate $606 million for the remainder of the year to aid 11 million people in a “flash appeal” for Afghans after the Taliban seized the country and overthrew the government amid the withdrawals of U.S. and NATO forces.

Some are concerned that Afghanistan could inch closer to famine and become more at risk because of the instability in the country, hindered humanitarian efforts and ongoing drought, the AP noted.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will lead the conference.

The organization said Afghans — who have already been subject to deprivation and violence — are at an increased vulnerability because of “recent developments,” according to the AP. A severe drought is putting the forthcoming harvest at risk, and hunger has been on the uptick.

The meeting will closely watch some Western governments and other large traditional U.N. donors who are interested in helping Afghans but will not receive a public-relations spotlight, the news service reported.

The U.N.’s effort comes after the Taliban seized Afghanistan’s capital city of Kabul last month.

The insurgent group is now beginning to plan how it will rule, more than 20 years after it last held power in the country in the 1990s.