UNICEF to directly fund Afghan teachers, bypassing Taliban authorities

FILE PHOTO: Waheedullah Hashimi, Director of External Programmes and Aid at the Ministry of Education, speaks during an interview in Kabul, Afghanistan October 31, 2021. Picture taken on October 31, 2021. REUTERS/Yosri Al Jamal/File Photo

KABUL (Reuters) - The United Nations children's agency said it was planning to set up a system to directly fund Afghan teachers, after the international community placed a freeze on funding to the Taliban-led administration.

"UNICEF is setting up a system that will allow direct payments to teachers without the funds being channelled through the de facto authorities," Jeannette Vogelaar, UNICEF Afghanistan's Chief of Education, told Reuters in an email.