Gordon Brown: Afghanistan is the biggest humanitarian crisis of our time
Mr Brown said more than half of the Afghan population is facing extreme hunger, including a million children who are at risk of starving to death.
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.The West is “sleepwalking into the the biggest humanitarian crisis of our times” following the withdrawal from Afghanistan Gordon Brown has said.
Writing for The Times Red Box, the former prime minister called on the global community to commit to the “largest humanitarian response ever agreed for a single nation” as he warned the country is “on the brink of economic and social collapse”.
Mr Brown said more than half of the Afghan population is facing extreme hunger, including a million children who are at risk of starving to death.
Instead of no absolute poverty in any country, we will have the horror of practically an entire country living in absolute poverty
He pointed to UN and International Monetary Fund predictions that the Afghanistan economy will contract by 20 to 30% over the next year – a figure he dubbed “unprecedented”.
“No country in recent times is suffering from such ‘universal poverty’ in the way that Afghanistan may do,” Mr Brown said.
“It is ironic that when the whole international community is pledged to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals — to free all the world from absolute poverty this decade — almost every citizen of Afghanistan will be condemned to that dire fate.
“Instead of no absolute poverty in any country, we will have the horror of practically an entire country living in absolute poverty.”
Mr Brown said the effects of Afghanistan’s poverty crisis could be felt as far away as Europe as thousands of Afghans are faced with the choice of starvation or emigration.
He also warned that by “standing aside” since the August withdrawal, the West was fostering conditions for “the exploitation of grievances and anti-western resentment that may come back to haunt us”.
In order to most immediately address the crisis, Mr Brown called on global support for a 4.5 billion dollar (£3.3 billion) plan from the UN Office for Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs, which would provide assistance to 22 million of the most vulnerable Afghans.
Mr Brown said: “It cost America trillions to fight the war in Afghanistan. It is not beyond our capacity to find 4 billion dollars to prevent starvation amid this uneasy peace.
“This tragedy foretold cannot be a tragedy unresolved.”