Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III (L) and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Army Gen. Mark A. Milley deliver remarks about the end of the 20-year military mission in Afghanistan at the Pentagon, in Arlington, Va., on September 1. Photo by Ken Cedeno/UPI
Relatives of a family killed in a U.S. drone strike and other civilians gather next to a damaged vehicle in Kabul on August 30. The strike was aimed at a suspected car bomb. Photo by Bashir Darwish/UPI
Maj. Gen. Chris Donahue, commander of the U.S. Army 82nd Airborne Division, XVIII Airborne Corps, boards a C-17 cargo plane at Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul on August 30. He is the final American service member to depart Afghanistan. Photo by Jack Holt/U.S. Central Command
President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden pay their respects during the dignified transfer of the remains of Navy Hospitalman Maxton W. Soviak of Berlin Heights, Ohio, on August 29, at Dover Air Force Base, Delaware. Soviak was killed, along with 12 other American service members, in a suicide bombing outside the Kabul airport on August 26. Photo by Jason Minto/U.S. Air Force
Flag-draped transfer cases line the inside of a C-17 Globemaster II on August 29, prior to a dignified transfer of the troops' remains at Dover. Photo by Jason Minto/U.S. Air Force
Demonstrators protest the treatment of women and girls in Afghanistan at Lafayette Park across from the White House in Washington, D.C., on August 29. Photo by Ken Cedeno/UPI
Smoke billows over the site of an explosion near Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul on August 29. The process of withdrawing the 5,000 U.S. military personnel deployed to Kabul's airport for the evacuation of Americans and Afghan allies was carried out in the face of "very real" threats of additional attacks such as the one two days before that killed about 200, the Pentagon said August 28. Photo by EPA-EFE
A child holds an Afghan flag at a rally to raise awareness of the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan in New York City on August 28. Photo by John Angelillo/UPI
Protesters hold up signs and flags at the Save Afghan Lives rally in New York. Photo by John Angelillo/UPI
A U.S. Marine assists evacuees at a checkpoint at Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul on August 26. Photo by Staff Sgt. Victor Mancilla/USMC
Refugees are evacuated from Hamid Karzai International Airport on August 26. Photo by Hassan Majeed/UPI
Biden pauses while delivering remarks on the terror attack that killed 13 U.S. service members in Kabul on August 26. Photo by Stefani Reynolds/UPI
Refugees evacuated from Kabul are greeted by family members as they arrive at the Dulles International Airport in Dulles, Va.,on August 26. Photo by Ken Cedeno/UPI
According to the U.S. Department of Defense, as of August 25, about 88,000 had safely departed Afghanistan, with five flights carrying 1,200 passengers landing at Dulles outside Washington, D.C. Photo by Ken Cedeno/UPI
Refugees evacuated from Kabul, Afghanistan arrive at Dulles. Photo by Ken Cedeno/UPI
Afghans gather outside the Hamid Karzai International Airport in an effort to flee the country on August 24. Photo by Bashir Darwish/UPI
Biden arrives to deliver remarks on Afghanistan and the Group of Seven at the White House on August 24. Photo by Yuri Gripas/UPI
Taliban fighters stand guard outside the Hamid Karzai International Airport during an evacuation on August 24. Photo by Bashir Darwish/UPI
U.S. Rep. Brian Mast, R-Fla., an Afghanistan war veteran, flanked by fellow Republican House members, speaks during a news conference on the Afghanistan evacuation at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on August 24. Photo by Ken Cedeno/UPI
A child waits with her family to board a U.S. Air Force Boeing C-17 Globemaster III during an evacuation at Hamid Karzai International Airport on August 22. Photo by Sgt. Samuel Ruiz/USMC
Biden (L) meets his national security team for an operational update on Afghanistan at the White House on August 22. Photo courtesy of the White House
Taliban fighters patrol in the streets of a neighborhood in Kabul on August 22. Photo by Bashir Darwish/UPI
Medical support personnel help an Afghan mother and family off a U.S. Air Force C-17 moments after she delivered a child aboard the aircraft upon landing at Ramstein Air Base in Germany on August 21. Photo courtesy of the U.S. Air Force
A large field near a row of barracks is being prepared to provide a soccer field and recreational area for the arrival of Afghan evacuees at Fort McCoy, Wis., on August 18. Photo by 1st Sgt. Michel Sauret/U.S. Army
Civilians board a plane during an evacuation at Hamid Karzai International Airport on August 19. Photo by Staff Sgt. Brandon Cribelar/U.S. Air Force
Biden (C) delivers remarks on the evacuation of American citizens and vulnerable Afghans at the White House on August 20. From left to right, Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III, Vice President Kamala Harris, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and national security adviser Jake Sullivan. Photo by Chris Kleponis/UPI
U.S. Army soldiers board a C-17 Globemaster III aircraft prior to departure for Hamid Karzai International Airport, Afghanistan, in support of Operation Allies Refuge at Ali Al Salem Air Base, Kuwait, on August 13. Photo by Staff Sgt. Ryan Brooks/U.S. Air Force
Army Gen. Mark A. Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, briefs the media on Afghanistan at the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., on August 18. Milley stated that U.S. military intelligence did not indicate that Afghanistan would fall to the Taliban as quickly as it did, adding that the United States conducted a "deliberate and responsible drawdown" of troops. Photo by Air Force Staff Sgt. Julian Kemper/Department of Defense
Sullivan holds a press briefing on the troops withdrawal at the White House on August 17. Photo by Ken Cedeno/UPI
Biden delivers remarks on Afghanistan in the White House on August 16. Photo by Oliver Contreras/UPI
Taliban militants gather after taking control of Lashkar Gah, the provincial capital of Helmand, Afghanistan, on August 13. Taliban fighters captured Kandahar and Helmand, the two largest provinces in southern Afghanistan, and Ghor in the west, officials said on August 13, making significant military victories in their blitzkrieg towards power in Kabul. Photo by EPA-EFE
Biden said U.S. troops would be out of Afghanistan by August 31, ending the 20-year military presence during remarks at the White House on July 8. Photo by Tom Brenner/UPI
Oct. 21 (UPI) -- The United Nations said Thursday that it's established a fund designed to give aid directly to hundreds of thousands of needy people and the foundering economy in Afghanistan.
The U.N. Development Program specified that the fund is a crisis response initiative that's intended to avert a growing humanitarian catastrophe in the Middle Eastern nation that began with the Taliban takeover in August.
The "people's economy" fund calls for more than $667 million over the next 12 months. Its chief goal is to supply fiscal aid to needy Afghans through donations that were frozen when the Taliban took over the government in Kabul.
Officials said that, so far, Germany has pledged $58 million.
"There are 38 million people who cannot be kept alive just from the outside," UNDP chief Achim Steiner told reporters. "We have to step in, we have to stabilize a 'people's economy' and in addition to saving lives, we also have to save livelihoods."
Cash from the new fund will be given directly to community groups and Afghan workers in public programs, the agency said. Grants will be given to small businesses and temporary basic income will be available to elderly and disabled Afghans.
Analysts have projected that the Afghan economy may contract as much as 30% in 2021 and add to the mass exodus of refugees who are already fleeing the country.
Last month, the UNDP projected that up to 97% of the Afghan population may be at risk of falling below the poverty line in 2022, unless the country's political and economic crises are addressed quickly.
Last week, the European Union pledged more than $1 billion in new Afghan aid.