"More than $1.1 billion pledges were made, but I cannot tell you the exact number that corresponds to the flash appeal in itself," Guterres told a press conference.
"This conference has fully met my expectations in relation to the solidarity with the people of Afghanistan," he said, pledging the U.N.'s continued support for Afghanistan over many decades, even during Taliban rule.
He also said the U.N. will use the financial aid as a lever for human rights guarantees from the Taliban, which last week announced a new interim government.
The flash conference had 156 participants, including 96 U.N. states represented at the ministerial level, with three international and regional organizations and 22 international nongovernmental organizations (NGOs).
"Humanitarian aid will not solve the problem if the economy of Afghanistan collapses, and we know that the risk is enormous and that there is a dramatic lack of cash," the U.N. chief also warned.
"We cannot even operate if the banks are not operating ... to pay the salaries to our staff."
The Taliban recently declared the war in Afghanistan over after taking control of the presidential palace in Kabul, while Western nations scrambled to evacuate their citizens amid chaos at Kabul Hamid Karzai International Airport as frantic Afghans searched for a way out.
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani said, "The Taliban have won with the judgment of their swords and guns, and are now responsible for the honor, property and self-preservation of their countrymen," after fleeing the country as the militants entered the capital virtually unopposed, saying he wanted to avoid bloodshed. The ensuing hours saw hundreds of Afghans desperate to leave Kabul airport.
"Today is a great day for the Afghan people and the mujahideen. They have witnessed the fruits of their efforts and their sacrifices for 20 years," Mohammad Naeem, the spokesperson for the Taliban's political office, told Qatar-based media outlet Al-Jazeera TV. "Thanks to God, the war is over in the country," he said.
It took the Taliban just over a week to seize control of the country after a lightning sweep that ended in Kabul as government forces, trained for two decades and equipped by the United States and others at a cost of billions of dollars, melted away.
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