Rebuilding Afghanistan after the Taliban takeover
The Story
The Times
3.9 • 1.6K Ratings
🗓️ 22 December 2022
⏱️ 33 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Since the Taliban takeover in August 2021, a humanitarian crisis has unfolded in Afghanistan. Foreign financial government support has run dry, and aid agencies are left to plug the gaps amid drought and famine. Our correspondent has been to visit projects run by Afghanaid, one of the organisations being supported by this year’s Christmas Appeal.
For more information and to donate to the Times and Sunday Times Christmas Appeal visit: https://times.ctdonate.org
This podcast was brought to you thanks to the support of readers of The Times and The Sunday Times. Subscribe today: thetimes.co.uk/storiesofourtimes.
Guest: Catherine Philp, Diplomatic Correspondent, The Times.
Host: Manveen Rana.
Clips: CNN, France 24, BBC News, CBS News, United Nations, ABC News.
This podcast was brought to you thanks to subscribers of The Times and The Sunday Times. To enjoy unlimited digital access to all our journalism subscribe here.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | In August 2021, after a 20-year intervention, NATO forces suddenly withdrew from Afghanistan, |
| 0:15.8 | leaving the Taliban to take over the country. |
| 0:19.8 | How desperate does an individual have to be to risk everything, those images of people |
| 0:26.8 | holding on to a U.S. Air Force carrier, people around the world will not be able to get out of |
| 0:33.2 | their minds for quite some time. |
| 0:39.3 | The world was horrified, but in a year where the international spotlight turned to Ukraine, |
| 0:47.5 | we somehow didn't notice the humanitarian catastrophe that's unfolded ever since. |
| 0:54.6 | We didn't have anything to eat. |
| 0:56.6 | My elder daughter was admitted to a clinic for almost two or three months. |
| 1:00.8 | That's the reason why I sold my daughter. |
| 1:03.9 | Parents telling us that they're giving their children tranquilizers so that their |
| 1:09.4 | hungry children stop crying and go to sleep. |
| 1:12.0 | According to the United Nations, this is the world's worst humanitarian disaster. |
| 1:18.0 | Afghanistan has become an urgent problem. |
| 1:26.6 | The UN says 90% of Afghans don't have enough to eat, and over half the population need emergency |
| 1:34.8 | assistance. |
| 1:35.6 | Afghanistan is a humanitarian crisis, but it's not only that, it's an economic crisis. |
| 1:41.9 | It's a climate crisis. |
| 1:43.9 | It's a hunger crisis. |
| 1:46.1 | It's a financial crisis, but it is not a hopeless crisis. |
| 1:52.4 | After the Taliban took over, foreign governments pulled all the aid that had kept the country going. |
| 2:00.0 | Now, there are just a handful of foreign aid agencies who are trying to plug the gap. |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from The Times, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of The Times and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.