UN / AFGHANISTAN SITUATION

Briefing Security Council members, a UN humanitarian official said, “Afghanistan is ruptured from the international community,” highlighting the nation's isolation and the dire consequences for millions in need of aid. UNIFEED

• Video Length: 00:04:06
• Production Date: 18 September 2024
• Asset Language: English
• Personal Subject: ROZA OTUNBAYEVA; SIMA SAMI BAHOUS
• Corporate Name: UNITED NATIONS ASSISTANCE MISSION IN AFGHANISTAN - UNAMA; SECURITY COUNCIL
• Subject Topical: GENDER EQUALITY; GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE
• Geographic Subject: AFGHANISTAN
• MAMS Id: 3255931
• Parent Id: 3255931
• Alternate Title: unifeed240918b

Description

STORY: UN / AFGHANISTAN SITUATION
TRT: 04:06
SOURCE: UNIFEED
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS

DATELINE: 18 SEPTEMBER 2024, NEW YORK CITY

Shotlist

FILE - NEW YORK CITY

1. Wide shot, exterior UN Headquarters

18 SEPTEMBER 2024, NEW YORK CITY

2. Wide shot, Security Council
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Roza Otunbayeva, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Afghanistan and Head of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan:
“I am greatly concerned that the 2024 Afghanistan Humanitarian Response Plan is only 30
percent funded, with around 900 million dollars received of the three billion dollars required.
4. Wide shot, Security Council
5. Wide shot, Security Council
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Roza Otunbayeva, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Afghanistan and Head of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan:
“Nearly 900,000 children requiring severe wasting treatment will not be reached, leaving these children twelve times more likely to die than healthy children.”
7. Wide shot, Security Council
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Roza Otunbayeva, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Afghanistan and Head of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan:
“Afghanistan is ruptured from the international community. Individual Taliban, many of whom are de facto ministers, are under sanctions and cannot travel without permission from this Council. Afghanistan’s Central Bank assets are frozen, limiting the development potential of the private sector. And the de facto authorities have no representation in multilateral institutions.”
9. Wide shot, speakers
10. SOUNDBITE (English) Sima Sami Bahous, Executive Director, UN Women:
“The new morality law does not only segregate women from men. It isolates them from other women too. In our surveys, only 22 percent of Afghan women report meeting with women outside their immediate family on a daily or weekly basis, while 18 percent never do. Not surprisingly, 90 percent of Afghan women and girls report that their mental health is bad or very bad, with a majority of women reporting that their mental health is getting worse every quarter, and eight percent knowing at least one woman or girl who has attempted suicide.”
11. Wide shot, Security Council
12. SOUNDBITE (English) Sima Sami Bahous, Executive Director, UN Women:
“Stop normalizing discriminatory practices. Stop sending all-male delegations to meet with the Taliban, or having women present only in administrative functions. Commit to gender parity in international interactions with the de facto authorities.”
13. Wide shot, Security Council members at the dais
14. SOUNDBITE (English) Ms. Mina (face is not shown for identity protection):
“I am totally broken. My freedom is taken away from me. They chose what I want to wear, and how I should behave, and where I should go, and who I should go with, and what I should do, and they decide whether I should live or die. Why do I have to live then?”
15. Wide shot, Security Council
16. SOUNDBITE (English) Naseer A. Faiq, Permanent Representative of Afghanistan to the United Nations at the Security Council:
“Boys and girls are systematically deprived of access to equal and quality education and
are encouraged to pursue their studies in "Jihadi Madrasas". Afghanistan is the only country where girls are not allowed to study beyond sixth grade. With over 70 decrees aimed at excluding women from public life, including barring Afghan women from working for NGOs, a systematic erasure has led to a gender apartheid regime with economic implications that have already cost Afghanistan an estimated one billion dollars, or five percent of its GDP.”
17. Wide shot, Security Council
18. SOUNDBITE (English) Saeed Iravani Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Iran:
“The mass migration from Afghanistan has placed heavy burden on our country, already strained by unlawful unilateral sanctions, with six million Afghans currently living in Iran, the annual cost exceeds ten billion dollars. However, the international community has shown little concern for this pressing issue.”
19. Wide shot, end of Security Council meeting

Storyline

United Nations officials voiced grave concerns over the worsening humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan, warning that millions of people are at risk due to funding shortages and restricted international engagement.

Roza Otunbayeva, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Afghanistan, briefing the Security Council today (18 Sep) said, “I am greatly concerned that the 2024 Afghanistan Humanitarian Response Plan is only 30 percent funded, with around 900 million dollars received of the three billion dollars required.”

Otunbayeva gave an example of the far-reaching impact of these financial shortfalls, saying almost 900,000 children requiring severe wasting treatment may not be reached. She said, “these children are twelve times more likely to die than healthy children.”

The Special Representative also painted a picture of Afghanistan's isolation from the international community. “Afghanistan is ruptured from the international community. Individual Taliban, many of whom are de facto ministers, are under sanctions and cannot travel without permission from this Council. Afghanistan’s Central Bank assets are frozen, limiting the development potential of the private sector,” she said.

Adding to these concerns, Sima Sami Bahous, Executive Director of UN Women, criticized the country’s new morality law. “The new morality law does not only segregate women from men. It isolates them from other women too,” she said, noting the mental health toll. “90 percent of Afghan women and girls report that their mental health is bad or very bad” with eight percent reporting they know at least one woman or girl who has attempted suicide.

A personal account shared at the session highlighted the severe restrictions on Afghan women. “I am totally broken,” said a woman identified as Ms. Mina for identity protection. “They chose what I want to wear, and how I should behave, and where I should go... Why do I have to live then?”

Naseer A. Faiq, Afghanistan’s Permanent Representative called the situation in his country “gender apartheid” and said that Afghanistan remains the only country in the world, where girls are banned from studying beyond sixth grade.

The humanitarian crisis has also spilled beyond Afghanistan's borders, as countries like Iran bear the burden of hosting large numbers of refugees. Saeed Iravani, Iran’s UN Ambassador said, “the mass migration from Afghanistan has placed a heavy burden on our country.” He noted that the cost of hosting six million Afghans in Iran exceeds ten billion dollars annually, with little international support.