The UN Secretary General today (13/9) made an urgent appeal for the Afghanistan, at the start of a ministerial meeting that should raise more than $ 600 million in aid, but also reaffirm the rights of Afghans threatened by Taliban.
“The Taliban need a lifeline” to deal with what is perhaps “the most dangerous time” for them after decades of war, pain and insecurity, Antonio Guterres said. “The people of Afghanistan are facing the downfall of an entire country – all together.”
The secretary-general went to the organisation’s headquarters in Geneva, where dozens of donor ministers – in person or online – are expected to succeed each other on the podium to pledge their help in the country now ruled by the Taliban after a long hiatus. war of conquest against a regime that has been sustained for 20 years by the international community.
Adding to a collapsing economy was a severe drought and the Covid-19 pandemic, Guterres said, adding that humanitarian organizations needed $ 606 million by the end of the year to meet the needs of 11 million Afghans. with a total population of 38 million.
He announced that the UN would withhold $ 20 million from an emergency fund to immediately support the work of these humanitarian organizations.
The UN chief also called for guaranteed access to the country to channel aid to people, as well as secure access to the areas most in need.
In a brief introductory remarks, Guterres emphasized the need to “ensure that the rights of women and girls in Afghanistan are protected – including access to education and other basic services”.
“One of the positives in Afghanistan today is a new generation of educated leaders and businessmen who have multiplied in the last two decades,” she said, as the Taliban began imposing restrictions on women’s activities after the fall of Kabul on August 15.
“Women and girls in Afghanistan want to be sure that the progress that has been made will not be erased, that the doors will not be closed and that hope will not be extinguished,” Guterres said.
He also stressed that aid must sustain the economy in the long run so that Afghans can stay and work in their homeland.
This conference “is not only what we will give to the Afghans, but also what we owe them,” he said.
UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Martin Griffiths, who was in Kabul last week, said the Taliban had pledged in writing to facilitate aid and protect humanitarian workers.
Griffiths read excerpts from a letter pledging to “remove all obstacles to aid and all programs under the auspices of the United Nations and other international organizations”, to protect “the lives, property and honor of workers in humanitarian organizations” and not to infiltrate the bases of the UN and other non-governmental organizations.
According to Griffiths, the Taliban also reiterated their commitment to the rights of women, minorities and freedom of expression “in the context of respect for culture and religion”.
In the letter, the Taliban called on the international community to help rebuild and fight drug trafficking.
For his part, Filippo Grady, the head of the UN refugee agency, speaking via video conference from Kabul, called on donor countries to donate unconditionally money that can be used according to the needs identified. on the field.
“The mistakes of the past must not be repeated. “The Afghan people must not be abandoned,” said Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Quresi, whose country is likely to take over most of any refugee exits.
“An ongoing commitment to Afghanistan to meet its humanitarian needs is absolutely essential.”
The US Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, told the conference that Washington was providing nearly $ 64 million in new humanitarian aid to Afghanistan.
“Let us pledge today that we will respond to this urgent call for financial support, that we will pledge to support humanitarian workers as they carry out their most important work, and that we will step up humanitarian action in Afghanistan so that we can save “The lives of Afghans in need,” he said.
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