Fate of UN Afghanistan mission in the balance as humanitarian flights resume

The fate of the United Nations political mission in Afghanistan after the Taliban came to power is of great concern within the global organization, UN sources told AFP as humanitarian flights resumed this week.

The mandate of the United Nations Aid Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) should expire on September 17th, its extension is to be debated in the UN Security Council on September 9th.

However, the context of the possible renewal has changed dramatically after the Taliban regained control in mid-August and forced a chaotic retreat by foreign governments, their troops, citizens and Afghan allies.

“The situation is so unclear” and it is “a sensible approach at this point in time” to carry out a “technical extension” of the mandate, said a UN source on condition of anonymity.

The intentions of the new Taliban government, which will be announced shortly, are also uncertain.

For the United Nations and Western states, they would certainly never want to lose “certain aspects” of the current mandate, “and that includes human rights, protecting civilians,” and coordinating international humanitarian aid, a UN source said.

A major concern of the UN is the treatment of women and girls among the Islamist hardliners of the Taliban. During the Taliban’s rule in Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001, women’s freedoms were severely restricted.

For Ireland, which will chair the Security Council in September, the issue of human rights under the Taliban is of vital importance – and the group will be judged “by their actions, not their words,” said the country’s UN envoy Geraldine Byrne Nason.

For Ireland, excluding women from key government posts would be unacceptable, Nason told reporters this week.

“It won’t stand for Ireland,” she said, adding that Afghanistan needs the UN and its humanitarian aid more than ever.

– ‘The eyes of the world’ –

The story goes on

In Afghanistan, 18 million people are staring at the barrel of humanitarian catastrophe and another 18 million could quickly join them, the UN warns and calls for international donations.

On Thursday, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric announced that the humanitarian flights of the organization’s World Food Program “will resume … so that 160 humanitarian organizations can continue their life-saving activities in the Afghan provinces”.

The flights connect the Pakistani capital Islamabad with the Afghan cities of Masar-i-Sharif in the north and Kandahar in the south. Since August 29, three flights have landed in Mazar-i-Sharif.

Between 2002 and 2021, the United Nations Humanitarian Air Service served more than 20 locations in the country, Dujarric said.

Since taking power in a flash, the Taliban have not given any indication of how they envision the future of UNAMA, or even who might represent Afghanistan, when world leaders meet in New York for the annual UN General Assembly later this month.

What seems clear, a diplomatic source said, is that “they want help for the future … both humanitarian and development aid,” although the latter is outside the purview of the current UNAMA mandate.

In a statement Thursday, Human Rights Watch urged the Security Council to renew its mandate to “ensure that the Mission and other UN agencies have the necessary resources to provide life-saving aid and to fully monitor human rights in Afghanistan “.

“The Taliban have a disastrous track record in human rights, and in particular in violating the rights of women and girls, so the UN mission needs to be the eyes of the world to report publicly on the situation in Afghanistan,” the UN said -Director of the organization, Louis Charbonneau.

prh / dax / sw / ch