UN stresses engagement with IEA to help Afghans

KABUL (Pajhwok): The global fraternity is fast running out of patience with the “Islamic Emirate” on the issue of engagement, says a senior UN diplomat.

Markus Potzel, the UN chief’s deputy special representative for Afghanistan, told the Security Council on Tuesday there had been some positive developments over the past few months.

However, he hastened to explain the positive development had been “too few and too slow and they are outweighed by the negatives”.

While briefing the 14-member UN body on the situation in Afghanistan, the envoy referred to the ban on girls’ secondary education.

With regard to increasing restrictions on women’s rights, the UNAMA head noted such steps indicated the Taliban’s indifference to more than 50 per cent of Afghanistan’s population. The Taliban appeared to be ready to risk international isolation, he believed.

In a statement from the UN News Centre, Potzel remarked: “The relegation of women and girls to the home not only deprives them of their rights, but Afghanistan as a whole is denied the benefit of the significant contributions that women and girls have to offer.”

Terrorism concerns ‘dismissed’

UN’s warnings about the capabilities of Islamic State Khurasan Province (ISKP) were dismissed by the incumbent Afghan rulers, he said.

The German diplomat added ISKP had proven its ability to assassinate figures close to the Taliban, attack foreign embassies and fire rockets across Afghanistan’s border to target its neighbours.

Potzel went on to mention what he called disturbing reports, videos and photos, indicating possible serious human rights violations committed in Panjsher province.

With per capita income falling to 2007 levels, the country’s economic situation remained tenuous due in part to Afghanistan’s isolation from the international banking system, he continued.

“Liquidity remains heavily dependent on the cash that the UN continues to bring in for humanitarian operations – cash, I must stress, that supports the needs of the Afghan people and does not directly reach the de facto authorities,” Potzel explained.

The 2022 Humanitarian Response Plan for Afghanistan had only received $1.9 billion out of a $4.4 billion requirement, the envoy lamented.

‘We have to engage’

While the Taliban government yet to be recognised by any country, he said, the international community did not want to see the country collapse.

The deputy special representative warned further fragmentation, isolation, poverty and internal conflict trigger potential mass migration.

Continued qualified engagement with the Taliban administration was the most realistic way of helping the Afghan people, he believed.

mud

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