Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan’s Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs, has urged the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) to publish its reports on Afghanistan impartially, taking the country’s realities into account and not overlooking its economic and security achievements.

He made the remarks on Sunday at a ceremony organised by the Afghan Red Crescent Society to mark the special week dedicated to supporting people in need.

Baradar said: “It is not fair for Afghanistan’s economic and security achievements to be ignored in reports, while UNAMA, as an opposing and hostile party, focuses on the negative aspects.”

The deputy prime minister for economic affairs said many Afghans were facing a severe economic and humanitarian crisis due to recent droughts, seasonal floods, earthquakes and the forced return of thousands of families to the country. He said addressing these challenges required serious attention.

He called on wealthy individuals, traders, investors, charitable organisations and international humanitarian agencies to provide practical assistance and cooperate with the Afghan Red Crescent Society.

Meanwhile, Noorulhaq Anwar, head of the General Directorate of Administrative Affairs, called on Afghanistan’s neighbouring countries to stop harassing and suppressing Afghans and depriving them of economic opportunities.

Referring to relations between neighbours, Anwar said neighbours should help reduce one another’s difficulties rather than make people’s lives harder through economic pressure.

Without naming any specific country, Anwar added that Afghanistan’s neighbours were still harassing and suppressing Afghans and depriving them economically.

The Afghan Red Crescent Society (ARCS) has discussed expanding humanitarian cooperation with representatives of the Austrian and Danish Red Cross societies, focusing on assistance for vulnerable families and support for returning Afghan refugees to achieve self-reliance.