UN Security Council Meeting on the situation in Afghanistan

Ambassador Harold Agyeman

Ambassador Harold Agyeman
Permanent Representative
Ghana Permanent Mission to the United Nations
March 2nd, 2022,
Security Council Chamber
New York City

SECURITY COUNCIL BRIEFING AND CONSULTATIONS ON
THE UNITED NATIONS ASSISTANCE MISSION IN AFGHANISTAN (UNAMA)

 

Madam President

I would like to begin by congratulating you, and by extension, the United Arab Emirates, for assuming the Presidency of the Council for this month. I offer my best wishes to you and hope that together we can advance the important work of the Council. Ghana is pleased that this meeting on the situation in Afghanistan has been convened ahead of the expiration, later this month, of the current mandate of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA). In this regard, we warmly welcome the briefing by the Special Representative of the Secretary General and Head of UNAMA, Deborah Lyons. We also extend sincere thanks to Ms. Mariam Safi for her briefing.

 

Madam President
It is important to be clear when speaking about the complex political, security, socio-economic and the dire humanitarian situation in Afghanistan. Thus, at the outset, let me affirm here that resolving the crisis situation in Afghanistan will entail precluding all geo-political considerations and interests in the approaches we adopt.
 
I will proceed to make the following three (3) points:

 

Firstly, Ghana maintains that, at all times, the interest and safety of the Afghan people must be preeminent and take the centre stage in the actions of the United Nations, international and regional actors. Our unified and genuine actions can and will save millions of Afghan lives, many of whom are faced with acute food shortages, are internally displaced and unable to access basic services, including drinking water, health care and education.

 

Secondly, the international community must sustain the goodwill and solidarity with, the Afghan people, which has never been so critical than now to help Afghanistan to stabilize and to rebuild. This Council, in particular, will have to shoulder its responsibility by ensuring that a fit-for-purpose and robust UNAMA mandate is unanimously and rapidly agreed, to effectively back-stop reconstruction and recovery efforts in Afghanistan.

 

Thirdly, and as put succinctly by SRSG Lyons, we must approach the UNAMA mandate creatively, with flexibility and leave no room for ambiguity. Ghana is, therefore, determined to engage constructively in the process and will assist to bridge differences, if any. We will also be resolute in our support for specific language in the UNAMA mandate that encourages inclusive political process and governance structures, taking into account Afghanistan’s multi-ethnic and diverse society. We will insist on a human rights framework in the mandate that ensures the protection of civilians, minorities and vulnerable persons such as the aged and persons living with disability. We will also support a UNAMA mandate that will be a guardian of the needs of women, girls and children.

 

Madam President,
Returning Afghanistan to normalcy is the over-arching objective and must remain a shared and foremost responsibility for us all. We note in this regard, the Oslo-facilitated meetings between leaders of the de facto authorities and Afghan civil society groups in January 2022, as well as the Doha talks between European countries and the de facto authorities. Also, the recent announcement of processes set in train to unfreeze Afghanistan’s assets and to channel the funds into humanitarian activities for the benefit of the Afghan people is commendable. We further commend the growing cooperation between UNAMA and the de facto authorities. Ghana expects that the de facto authorities will continue to act in good faith and align itself with global efforts to bring lasting relief to Afghan citizens, many of whom require urgent humanitarian assistance. It is not the case that the de facto authorities are being called upon to do the extraordinary. To the contrary, we are simply asking the Taliban to commit to upholding the fundamental freedoms and liberties of every Afghan citizenwithout discrimination and to provide them with equal access to the basic of human services as well as access to a fair judicial system, employment, freedom of expression and movement and guaranteeing girls full access to education. This is the minimum standard expected of every responsible member of the international community.

In conclusion, Ghana reiterates her commitment to a stable, resurgent and secure Afghanistan, living peacefully with its neighbours.

I thank you.