Norway urges World Bank's Afghanistan donors to channel funds to U.N.

FILE PHOTO: Norway's Minister of Foreign Affairs Anniken Huitfeldt speaks to the media as she arrives at the NATO Foreign Ministers summit in Riga, Latvia November 30, 2021. REUTERS/Ints Kalnins/File Photo

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Norway is encouraging donors to a World Bank-administered fund for Afghanistan to agree to transfer $280 million to the World Food Programme and UNICEF, Foreign Minister Anniken Huitfeldt said on Monday.

The World Bank's board backed transferring $280 million to the U.N. agencies from the $1.5 billion Afghanistan Reconstruction Trust Fund (ARTF), which was frozen after the Taliban took over the Afghan government in August, Reuters reported last week.