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UN / AFGHANISTAN
STORY: UN / AFGHANISTAN
TRT: 1.37
SOURCE: UNTV/ UNODC
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: RUSSIAN/ NATS
DATELINE: 22 MARCH 2010, NEW YORK CITY/ FILE
FILE – RECENT, NEW YORK CITY
1. Wide shot, exterior UN building
22 MARCH 2010, NEW YORK CITY
2. Wide shot, Security Council
3. Med shot, delegates
4. Various shots, vote
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Vitaly Churkin, Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to the United Nations:
“Particular concern continues to exist with regard to the production and illegal traffic in drugs in the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan. There is no doubt now that the Afghan drug trade represents a direct and serious threat to international peace and security. Therefore it is necessary to overcome it in a collective way and we must use all the capacities available.”
6. Med shot delegates
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Vitaly Churkin, Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to the United Nations:
8. How can we overcome the Taliban when they continue to obtain financial resources from the illegal drug trade? We are convinced that the ISAF contingent and the anti-terrorist coalition – on the contrary - must continue in an active and robust way to deal with the drug threat coming from Afghanistan and they must work together with Afghan Government on this issue.”
9. Wide shot, Security Council
FILE – UNODCDATE UNKNOWN, AFGHANISTAN
10. Med shot, poppy farmers
11. Close up, opium poppy capsule and lancing
12. Med shot, farmer with opium poppy capsule and lancing
13. Wide shot, eradication of poppy fields by hand
14. Close up, gun barrel with poppy field in the background
The Security Council unanimously voted today (2 March) to extend the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) for another 12 months and to expand its mandate to include support for the parliamentary elections scheduled for September.
The Council also requested that UNAMA provide technical and logistical support to the National Assembly and civil society in preparation for the parliamentary poll, as requested in a letter by Afghan President Hamid Karzai, with further assistance from the international community, as appropriate.
Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin expressed “particular concern” to the Council, over the continued production and illegal traffic of drugs in Afghanistan, saying that “there is no doubt” that it represents “a direct and serious threat to international peace and security”.
The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) recently found a correlation between insurgency and high cultivation, with nearly 80 per cent of villages with very poor security conditions growing poppies but in only 7 per cent of villages untouched by violence.
The UNODC report pointed out that in parts of Afghanistan where the Government is more able to enforce the law, nearly two thirds of farmers said they did not grow opium because it is banned, whereas in the southeast, where authorities' reach is weaker, just under 40 per cent of farmers cited the ban as a reason for not cultivating poppies.
Churkin asked “how can we overcome the Taliban when they continue to obtain financial resources from the illegal drug trade?” and insisted that the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan (ISAF) must continue to help “in an active and robust way” with eradication efforts.
ISAF, in support of the Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, conducts operations in Afghanistan to reduce the capability and will of the insurgency, support the growth in capacity and capability of the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF), and facilitate improvements in governance and socio-economic development.
Today’s resolution reiterated that UNAMA and its new Special Representative Staffan de Mistura continue to lead international civilian efforts in the country.
In addition, the resolution incorporated what had been a growing call from senior UN officials for greater Afghan ownership over its domestic policy and stressed the importance of strengthening and expanding the presence of UNAMA and other UN agencies, funds and programmes in the provinces.
UNAMA has been in Afghanistan since March 2002, when following the fall of the Taliban; the Bonn Agreement established an interim Government and prescribed the drafting of a new Constitution and the holding of elections.
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