U.N. warns Afghanistan needs money to prevent total breakdown

FILE PHOTO: Deborah Lyons, Special Representative of the Secretary General of the United Nations for Afghanistan makes a statement during the 2020 Afghanistan Conference at the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland November 24, 2020. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The United Nations warned on Thursday that the freezing of billions of dollars in Afghan assets to keep it out of Taliban hands would inevitably spark "a severe economic downturn" and could push millions more Afghans into poverty and hunger.

U.N. special envoy on Afghanistan, Deborah Lyons, said a way needed to be found to get money quickly flowing to the country "to prevent a total breakdown of the economy and social order" and with safeguards to ensure it is not misused by the Taliban.