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World ‘must engage’ or risk Afghanistan’s collapse, UN Security Council hears
Senior UN envoy for Afghanistan, Markus Potzel, said on Tuesday that despite some positive developments over the past few months , “patience is running out” for many in the international community when it comes to effectively engaging with the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA).
Addressing the UN Security Council meeting, he also said while there have been positive developments they have been “too few and too slow and they are outweighed by the negatives”.
Potzel said the ongoing ban on girls’ secondary education and growing restrictions on women’s rights, were “signals that the Taliban (IEA) are indifferent to more than 50 percent of the population” and are willing to risk international isolation.
“The relegation of women and girls to the home not only deprives them of their rights, but Afghanistan as a whole is denied the benefit of the significant contributions that women and girls have to offer,” he said.
He also said the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) has monitored a steady rise in security incidents by terrorist groups and others.
“Our earlier warnings about the capabilities of Islamic State Khorasan Province (Daesh) were dismissed by the Taliban (IEA)”, he told ambassadors.
“But ISKP has demonstrated in the last few months alone that it can carry out assassinations of figures close to the Taliban (IEA), attacks against foreign embassies, as well as fire rockets across Afghanistan’s border to attack its neighbours – all while maintaining its long-standing sectarian campaign against Shia Muslims and ethnic minorities,” said Potzel.
He noted that armed clashes are continuing between IEA security forces and armed opposition groups in the Panjshir, Baghlan, Kapisa, Takhar, and Badakhshan provinces.
As per capita income has collapsed to 2007 levels – erasing 15 years of economic growth – the country’s economic situation “remains tenuous” due in part to Afghanistan’s isolation from the international banking system.
“Liquidity remains heavily dependent on the cash that the UN continues to bring in for humanitarian operations – cash, I must stress, that supports the needs of the Afghan people and does not directly reach the de facto authorities,” said Potzel.
But even the funding is uncertain as the 2022 Humanitarian Response Plan has only received $1.9 billion out of a $4.4 billion requirement.
Humanitarian and economic measures will not meet the Afghan people’s longer-term needs, and the emergency aid cannot replace essential service delivery systems, such as health and water, or hold off an economic collapse, he warned.
While the IEA has not been recognized by any State, the international community also does not want to see the country collapse, Potzel stressed.
“If the Taliban (IEA) do not respond to the needs of all elements of Afghan society and constructively engage within the very limited window of opportunity with the international community, it is unclear what would come next,” he said.
“Further fragmentation, isolation, poverty, and internal conflict are among the likely scenarios, leading to potential mass migration and a domestic environment conducive to terrorist organizations, as well as greater misery for the Afghan population.
“That’s why we have to engage”, he declared, adding that “continued qualified engagement” was the most realistic way of helping the Afghan people.
The construction of a water canal, planned by the late Japanese doctor and aid worker Tetsu Nakamura, has been completed in Afghanistan’s eastern Nangarhar province.
Nakamura was from Japan, but had honorary citizenship of Afghanistan. He was killed in 2019.
He worked in Nangarhar for many years, focusing mainly on building water canals.
Nakamura was working hard to complete his projects, but these were suspended following his death.
Later, the projects were resumed with the help of the government of Japan.
During his time in Nangarhar, Nakamura built several health centers and carried out more than 1,600 irrigation projects, canal constructions and provision of clean water.
His greatest work was the construction of a 25-kilometer long canal from the Kunar river, which irrigates hundreds of acres of land.
He also built a recreation park, dug wells, and established agricultural research farms.
“Dr. Nakamura made 9 weirs in Kama, Shewa and Behsud districts. Thousands of acres of land are irrigated and millions of people benefit from it. All the projects planned by Nakamura have been completed,” said Ajmal Stankzai, the representative of the Nakamura Foundation.
“Nakamura would behave with a laborer like a laborer. He would take stones with us. He used to tell us that the people of every country serve their country and you should also serve the ruined Afghanistan,” said Deen Mohammad, a resident of Koz Kanar district of Nangarhar.
In Kama district, the work of Nakamura projects is ongoing. One of the projects is the construction of a secon canal from the Kunar river.
“There was a huge water problem in Kama district. Fortunately, with Nakamura’s cooperation, many lands were irrigated,” said Bashir Ahmad Kamawal, a resident of Kama district of Nangarhar.
After Nakamura’s death, now an NGO called PMS is following in his footsteps and is working to build canals and dams.
Recently, the construction of a canal in Kot district of Nangarhar was completed and inaugurated. The canal is 5 kilometers long.
“Many projects are planned and our ministry has taken care of them… We thank them for feeling the pain of Afghans and helping our country,” said Abdul Latif Mansour, Acting Minister of Energy and Water.
Tetsu Nakamura was shot and killed by unknown men in 2019 when he was going to work from Jalalabad city. It is not yet known who was behind the assassination.
A deminer died in a landmine explosion in Afghanistan’s southern Uruzgan province on Tuesday, police said.
The incident happened around 10:00 a.m. in Khurma area of provincial capital Trink Kot, said Hazrat Bilal Uruzgani, the provincial police spokesman.
Another deminer was injured in the incident, he said
Uruzgani said that the incident happened during an operation to clear the area from mines.
Afghanistan’s acting minister of public health Dr Qalandar Ebad, along with other officials, visited a number of flood-hit villages in Baghlan province on Tuesday.
The officials assessed damage in the villages of Sai Hazara and Gharo in the Guzargah district.
According to a statement issued by the ministry, Ebad inspected “vulnerable areas affected by recent floods and, expressing sympathy with the local people, promised that the leadership of the Ministry of Public Health will spare no effort to provide health services to those in need.”
Ebad also expressed gratitude for the efforts of healthcare workers and their commitment to helping people in need.
He directed officials to make every effort “to improve the health status of patients affected by recent floods in the villages of Sai Hazara and Gharo, Baghlan province”.
Based on official figures, more than 300 people have died as a result of floods in Baghlan province and over 1,600 others have been injured.
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