U.N. says $1.2 billion pledged to aid Afghanistan

More than $1.2 billion has been pledged internationally for people in Afghanistan in need of humanitarian assistance, the U.N. relief chief said Monday.Martin Griffiths, head of the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, disclosed the total at the closing of a ministerial meeting on Afghanistan in Geneva."The funding will throw a lifeline to Afghans who lack those services," Griffiths said after the United Nations convened the high-level meeting, specifying that at least $606 million is needed by the end of this year.Hailing the pledge that nearly doubled its initial appe…READ FULL ARTICLE