'A fantasy' to think UN can fix Afghanistan, Guterres says
United Nations secretary-general Antonio Guterres on Wednesday said any suggestion the world body can solve Afghanistan's problems is "a fantasy" and that its capacity to mediate for a more inclusive Taliban government is limited.
Asked in an interview with Reuters a month after the Taliban took control of Afghanistan from a Western-backed government whether he felt pressure to repair the country's plight, Guterres said: "I think there is an expectation that is unfounded" of UN influence as the main international organisation still on the ground there.
The world has watched a number of countries send thousands of soldiers to Afghanistan and spend vast sums of money for 20 years since a US-led invasion ousted the Taliban for harbouring al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.
The United States spent US$1 trillion, only to see the Afghan government and military it supported collapse ahead of a full withdrawal of US and other foreign forces in August.
"To think - given that they have failed with all these resources to fix the problems of Afghanistan - that we can now, without those forces and money, solve the problems they couldn't solve for decades is a fantasy," Guterres said ahead of next week's annual U.N. gathering of world leaders in New York.
The United Nations will be doing everything it can for a country that Guterres said is on "the verge of a dramatic humanitarian disaster" and has decided to engage the Taliban in order to help Afghanistan's roughly 36 million people.
Even before the Taliban's seizure of the capital Kabul, half the country's population depended on aid. That looks set to increase due to drought and shortages and the World Food Programme has warned 14 million people were on the brink of starvation.
Guterres said he supports efforts to convince the Taliban to form a more inclusive government than when it ruled 20 years ago. The United Nations has little capacity to mediate, he said, and should focus on its "position of an international organisation that is there to support the Afghan people".
"You cannot expect miracles," he said, stressing that the United Nations could engage with the Taliban, but that the Islamist movement would never accept a UN role in helping form a new Afghan government.
Humanitarian aid, Guterres said, should be used as an instrument to help convince the Taliban to respect fundamental rights, including those of women and girls.
Governments pledged more than US$1.1 billion in aid this week for Afghanistan and refugee programmes in neighbouring countries. Guterres also appealed for countries to make sure the Afghan economy is "not completely strangled."
World reaction to the government of Taliban veterans and hardliners announced last week has been cool, and there has been no sign of international recognition or moves to unblock more than US$9 billion in foreign reserves held outside Afghanistan.
"There must be ways to inject some cash in the Afghan economy, for the economy not to collapse and for the people not to be in a dramatic situation, forcing probably millions to flee," said Guterres, who will begin his second five-year term as UN chief on Jan 1, 2022.
He said the UN will work with its partners to ensure that aid is distributed based on humanitarian principles and "that everybody should be treated equally without any kind of distinction based on gender, on ethnicity or any other consideration".
Guterres emphasised that it is too early to know if the Taliban will respect rights and govern responsibly.
He called the situation in Afghanistan "unpredictable", adding: "Nobody knows what will happen, but it's important to engage."
Two Members of UN Permanent Security Council still in Kabul. They did not sapot "Safe Zone" for UN Aid to be delivered. Why Not...?
ReplyDeleteMfering lie coming out from a blurred mfer.
DeleteAfghans had 20 years to rebuild their country, like Germany, Yitaly, Japan, South Korea did, after devastating wars and occupation by foreign troops. In fact, foreign troops are still there, giving bodyguard services.
ReplyDeleteBut Afghans wasted the chan. Like Libya, Syria, Iraq etc.
Please don't keep blaming others. Why keep fighting? Look Within.
Look within?
DeleteMfer, still keen to pedaling yr eugenics fart!
How about shouting yrself no end in demanding to unblock more than US$9 billion in foreign reserves held outside Afghanistan?
Don't know? Don't care?
The Taliban shot and murdered their way into power at the muzzle of AK-47s and Improvised Explosive Devices.
ReplyDeleteThe Yanks don't owe the Taliban anything.
What you break, you own.
Yes, What you break, you own.
DeleteThen get yr uncle Sam to own up to his messes in Afghanistan, PERIOD!
Rusia and 5000 yo Bullyland rejek Safe Zone for delivery of Foreign Aid. Impending Humanitarian Disaster will be on their hands.
ReplyDeleteOgos Punya Gaji Belum Masuk Lagi. Dulu Amerika Bayar, sekarang Siapa?
QUOTE
UN Council adopts Afghanistan resolution, but no 'safe zone'
Issued on: 30/08/2021
The UN Security Council adopted a resolution Monday requiring the Taliban to honor their commitment to let people freely leave Afghanistan, but the measure did not cite a "safe zone" mentioned by French President Emmanuel Macron.
The resolution -- drafted by the United States, Britain and France, and seen by AFP -- was passed with 13 votes in favor and no objections. China and Russia abstained.
The resolution says the council expects the Taliban to allow a "safe, secure, and orderly departure from Afghanistan of Afghans and all foreign nationals."
It refers to an August 27 statement by the Taliban in which the hardline Islamists said Afghans would be able to travel abroad, and leave Afghanistan any time they want to, including by any border crossing, both air and ground.
The Security Council "expects that the Taliban will adhere to these and all other commitments," the resolution says.
Macron had raised hopes of more concrete proposals in comments published in the weekly Journal du Dimanche over the weekend.
He said Paris and London would present a draft resolution which "aims to define, under UN control, a 'safe zone' in Kabul, that will allow humanitarian operations to continue," Macron said.
"I am very hopeful that it will be successful. I don't see who could be against making humanitarian projects secure," he said.
But the UN resolution on the table is far less ambitious. It is not clear whether another resolution proposing a "safe zone" will be circulated later on.
"This resolution is not an operational aspect. It's much more on principles, key political messages and warnings," a UN diplomat told reporters.
Experts said the text was watered down to ensure China and Russia would not use their vetoes to block it, including softening some of the language related to the Taliban.
"This is a pretty thin text," said Richard Gowan, UN expert at the International Crisis Group.
"Macron was guilty of overselling the idea of a safe zone at Kabul airport this weekend, or at least not communicating very clearly," he told AFP.
"The resolution does at least send a political signal to the Taliban about the need to keep the airport open and help the UN deliver aid."
The text calls for the Taliban to allow for "full, safe, and unhindered access" for the United Nations and other agencies to provide humanitarian assistance.
It also "reaffirms the importance" of upholding human rights, including of children, women and minorities and encourages all parties to seek an inclusive, negotiated political settlement with the "full, equal and meaningful representation of women."
The text also calls for Afghanistan to "not be used to threaten or attack any country or to shelter or train terrorists, or to plan or to finance terrorist acts."
UNQUOTE
Blurred mfer, safe zone implemented by who even if UN passed the resolution?
DeleteOooop… get yr uncle Sam & his allies back to perform the safekeeping of the safe zone!
Perfect! Run first then come back with UN backing for another round of interferences & carnages!
Parents raise children to adulthood: spoon-feed, babysit and protect, until they are 18 years old. After that they are adults and must look after themselves. That is not abandonment.
ReplyDeleteSame for Afghanistan, after 20 years of babysitting, spoon-feeding and providing bodyguard services they are not being "abandoned". 5 TRILLION dollars spent raising them, 83 billion weapons left behind to fight Telly-ban, all FOC. It's like leaving your 20 year old prodigy a fully furnished house and car. All paid for. Now go look after yourself. Can Or Not?
Don't just keep shputing about yr eugenics fart!
DeleteAfghans would be doing themselves right if yr uncle Sam had kept himself gar far away!
Can or not, right?
Prior to 2001, Afghanistan was a hotbed of terrorists like Al Qaeda, hosted by Telly-ban. Even Russia could not tahan, ran away in 1989, 5000 yo Bully oso takut, cabut in 1993. So is this “doing themselves right”?
DeleteBlurred mfer, who initiated those hotbed of terrorists prior to 2001¿
DeleteNo thanks to yr uncle Sam, such that the Russko had to ran.
Now US is facing his karma in “doing themselves right"!