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7722nd Security Council Meeting: Situation in Afghanistan
Despite persistent political, economic and security challenges, Afghanistan could make significant strides towards peace and stability in 2016, said Nicholas Haysom this afternoon in his final briefing to the Security Council as Special Representative of the Secretary-General for that country.
There had been a number of positive steps in meeting the challenges confronting Afghanistan, he told the 15-member body. Those included economic strides, such as progress in revenue collection and the management of public finances, as well as a deliberate response by the Afghan National Defence and Security Forces to the lessons learned over the past year. The battlefield in many areas was in a state of flux, with gains and reversals, but with neither side effecting clear dominance.
Despite strides made, however, he remained concerned about the impact that the high level of violence was having on Afghanistan’s civilian population. Expressing particular concern about the trend of targeted killing of civilians working in the judicial sector, and of journalists, he warned that the conflict could enter a new phase which might see retaliatory acts of vengeance and an escalating spiral of violence.
Progress on the economic and security fronts was imperative as the Government sought to secure a firm and longer term of international support at the upcoming North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) meeting in Warsaw and the donors’ conference slated to take place in Brussels in October, he said. What was expected of Afghanistan was not proof of the country’s considerable needs, but its demonstrable capacity to utilize resources effectively so that aid had a real impact.
The representative of Afghanistan, taking the floor following the briefing, said his country had shown greater resilience since the Council’s last deliberations in March. Afghanistan’s re-emergence as a symbol of international cooperation and partnership was gaining momentum. However, increased civilian casualties, internal displacement and the ramifications of the behaviour of the Taliban and its supporters had been alarming.
“Make no mistake, the proud Government and people of Afghanistan have not, do not and will not surrender to intimidation, violence and aggression,” he said, noting that the Taliban had resorted to highway banditry, killing and kidnapping. The fact that terrorist leaders had been found and killed in safe haven in Pakistan was proof that it had violated the sovereignty of other nations, he added, calling for the urgent implementation of Council resolutions 1373 (2001) and 2255 (2015).
A number of speakers throughout the debate noted progress that had been made in Afghanistan in recent months, with the representative of Spain recognizing gains in combating corruption and identifying future development priorities. He noted that Kabul had recently hosted the second European Union-Afghanistan Human Rights Dialogue, where constructive discussions had been held on a range of issues, including women’s and children’s rights, the death penalty, torture, access to justice, freedom of expression and the rights of vulnerable persons.
Others, however, underscored the magnitude of the challenges that still faced the country. The representative of New Zealand pointed out that the modest progress made was more than offset by the enormous human toll that the conflict continued to take. In addition, economic growth in Afghanistan remained low and outward migration continued. “Whether we like it or not, the Government and people of Afghanistan need our continued support,” he said, noting that the upcoming conferences in Warsaw and Brussels could provide opportunities for such assistance.
Senegal’s delegate agreed that the situation in Afghanistan continued to be marked by increased fighting, drug trafficking and a weakened economy. There were political divisions and a humanitarian crisis that made national reconciliation difficult. In that challenging environment, the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) had done everything possible to support the peace and reconciliation process. Noting that there were 1.2 million internally displaced persons in Afghanistan, as well as 2.6 million Afghan refugees living throughout the world, he reiterated his appeal to donor countries to demonstrate more flexibility in the way they dealt with Afghan asylum seekers.
The representative of Pakistan rejected the “untrue” and “gratuitous” comments made by the representative of Afghanistan about her country. She recalled that efforts to revive negotiations had been well underway when a United States drone attack had killed Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Mansour, dealing a blow to the Afghan peace process and further complicating the situation. That attack had been a breach of the principles of the United Nations Charter and international law.
Also speaking were the representatives of Japan, Egypt, United States, United Kingdom, Angola, Russian Federation, China, Malaysia, Ukraine, Venezuela, Uruguay, France, Sweden, Italy, Germany, India, Iran, Netherlands, Australia, European Union, Canada and Turkey.
The meeting began at 3:15 p.m. and ended at 6:35 p.m.
