Al Jazeera reported on October 22 that the United Nations has announced that it has established a special trust fund to provide much-needed cash directly to Afghans through a system.
Achim Steiner, administrator of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), said that as the first donor, Germany had pledged 50 million euros (about $58 million) to the fund and was engaging with other donors to mobilize resources.
Steiner said UNDP had calculated the cost of its activities for the first 12 months to about $667 million. Kanni Wignaraja, director of UNDP Asia-Pacific, said cash would be provided to Afghans employed in public works projects such as drought and flood control projects and donations to microenterprises would be provided.