Umamah Bakharia | ub@radioislam.co.za

2 min read
16 March 2023 | 23:30 CAT

The United Nations Security Council has renewed the UN Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) for an additional year while also appealing for recommendations on a strategy for the international community to continue its work in the Taliban-ruled country.

Picture credit: BBC

The 15-member council have on Thursday unanimously adopted two resolutions, both drafted by the United Arab Emirates and Japan on the best way forward.

The first “stresses the critical importance of a continued presence of UNAMA” and other UN agencies within Afghanistan, which has been under Taliban rule since the group took control of Kabul in August 2021.

The resolution which was adopted extends the mission until 17 March 2024 and does not change the UNAMA’s mandate, as defined by last year’s resolution, “in promoting peace and stability in Afghanistan”.

The second resolution requests the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to conduct an “integrated, independent assessment” of the situation in the country, and report back to the UNSC by 17 November with “forward-looking recommendations for an integrated and coherent approach among relevant political, humanitarian, and development actors”.

“We are all aware the situation in Afghanistan is extremely challenging, and that our options are actually very limited, but the status quo is not sustainable,” says UAE’s UN ambassador, Lana Zaki Nusseibeh.

The Taliban, which seized power in August 2021 after the United States-led forces withdrew from Afghanistan after 20 years of war, says it has been respectful of women’s rights even though there has been a ban on women and girls from attending high school and university, visiting parks and working for aid groups.

The UNSC has since expressed concern in the resolution over the lack of progress made by the Taliban.

The council has emphasised “the importance of the full, equal and meaningful participation of women, and upholding human rights, including those of women, children, minorities, and persons in vulnerable situations”.