Taliban welcome UN resolution formally extending the body’s presence in Afghanistan

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Taliban welcome UN resolution formally extending the world body’s presence in Afghanistan

Mar 18, 2022: According to a report by AFP, the Taliban welcomed a UN Security Council resolution formally extending the world body’s presence in Afghanistan, although the government of the Taliban remains unrecognised by the international community.

“We consider the extension of the mandate of UNAMA as a good step and want them to work effectively for solving humanitarian and other problems in Afghanistan,” Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told AFP Friday.

“We will coordinate and cooperate with them.”

The resolution passed on Thursday – which avoids the use of the word “Taliban” – allows the United Nations to continue working in Afghanistan, which is still burning after decades of war and whose economy was devastated when international aid was cut off when the group took over the country last August.

There were 14 votes in favor of expanding the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), with Russia abstaining.

The United Nations has not yet recognized the Taliban’s choice of envoy, and the resolution does not recognize the new government internationally. The mission includes humanitarian and political issues, as well as many areas of human rights cooperation, including women, children and journalists.

Norwegian UN ambassador Mona Juul, said, “The Council gives a clear message with this new mandate: UNAMA has a crucial role to play in promoting peace and stability in Afghanistan and to support the Afghan people as they face unprecedented challenges and uncertainty,”

Afghanistan appears to be stabilizing from the security standpoint since August 2021, months after the Taliban seized power and the hasty withdrawal of US-led foreign forces after a 20-year war. But since then, the country’s humanitarian crisis has deepened.

The United Nations and other international aid agencies say more than half of Afghanistan’s 38 million people have been starving since the onset of winter. The country has known of an almost continuous war since 1979, which was broken only by the first Taliban government from 1996 to 2001.

As a result, it is one of the poorest countries in the world, with very little in the way of infrastructure and a young population affected by decades of war.

In January, the United Nations called for its largest single aid so far, demanding $ 5 billion to avert humanitarian catastrophe.

Meanwhile, Washington-led international donors have insisted that any foreign aid on women’s education and work rights would depend on Taliban policy. Since coming to power, the Taliban have imposed a number of restrictions on women, although with hope, officials have said that secondary schools for girls will reopen soon.

Earlier this month, the World Bank announced more than $1 billion in humanitarian aid to Afghanistan, stating that the money was being channeled out of Taliban control to UN agencies and international NGOs.

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