Donegal woman vows to stay and help deal with Afghanistan crisis

A Donegal woman working for the United Nations in Afghanistan has spoken of how she wants to stay and help those in need following the takeover by the Taliban.
Thousands of people are trying to flee the crisis in the country in fear of the repercussions of the Taliban’s rapid takeover and the collapse of the government.
Mary-Ellen McGroarty from Mountcharles is director of the UN’s World Food Programme in Afghanistan.
On Sunday, she and her colleagues ran to the bunker of their Kabul compound as the Taliban entered the capital.
“We heard gunshots and didn’t know what was happening,” she told the Irish Independent.
She fears the country is on the brink of humanitarian catastrophe but has insisted she won’t be leaving and wants to stay to continue her work.
It is a priority for the World Food Programme and the UN to stay in Afghanistan, she told RTÉ.
“We are closely monitoring the situation, but we are very conscious of the rising needs in Afghanistan. We need to be here to deal with an evolving situation, mounting hunger, mounting shelter needs.”
She said the UN has been able to resume its operations in the regions taken over by the Taliban in recent weeks.
The UN must reach the people in need and “we must have unimpeded humanitarian access," she said.
The Taliban has given the message that the humanitarian community in the country and the UN are not targets, she said.
All the UN’s female staff are staying at home until they feel the situation is safe, she added.
“We constantly assess that. Our priority is to make sure that we can deliver safely for the people that we are here for, the people of Afghanistan, and make sure also that our staff are safe.”