January 26, 2022
Deborah Lyons, UN Secretary General’s Special Representative for Afghanistan, briefed the United Nations Security Council on the ongoing humanitarian crisis and other developments in Afghanistan.
The special envoy’s address brought some encouraging news vis-a-vis Afghanistan. A total of eight billion dollars are being sought for health and education, revamping of community infrastructure, and promotion of livelihoods and social cohesion. Apart from the aforementioned areas of improvement, the UN would focus exclusively on the socio-economic needs of women and girls. Lyon also said that girls’ education is one of the most important issues and the UN welcomes the statements coming from the Taliban that girls of all ages will be allowed to pursue education. She further told the council that some of the donors had expressed willingness to pay for the salaries of Afghan teachers for January and February. The future assistance depends upon the de facto authorities’ fulfilment of their promises.
Lyon also summarized the achievements of the UN in Afghanistan. She told the council that 18 million people have been provided with life-saving assistance, 10 million people with food assistance, and 1.5 million with health care. In 2021, more than 2000 healthcare centers were supported by humanitarian assistance and 450 tons of life-saving health supplies were imported. This expansion, she said, was made possible due to the improved security situation as humanitarian workers could access the places they had previously not been able to.
The UN representative also stated that the Taliban must take more concrete measures to contain the terrorist outfits as the ISKP is still carrying out attacks and targeting the religious minorities, but she also acknowledged that since her previous briefing to the council, the Taliban have made attempts to control the ISKP’s terror activities to a considerable extent. She further said that the Taliban’s willingness to address this threat can be witnessed in practice, but one needs to think on realistic grounds too regarding their capacity to fight the banned outfit. Lyon emphasized that addressing the issue of the Islamic State could create a bond of trust between the Taliban and the international community as the area is of common interest for both.
Lastly, the special envoy applauded the keen involvement of OIC and its recent extraordinary meeting of foreign ministers hosted by Pakistan in December 2021. She concluded that the UN looks forward to OIC’s collaboration with them and the Taliban to address the pressing issues of human rights, girls’ education, etc.
Reference: UNAMA
