Roza Otunbayeva, special representative of the secretary general and head of the United Nations assistance mission in Afghanistan (Unama), said that the ongoing missile attacks between Iran and Israel already have a tangible impact.
“” This conflict already has an effect in Afghanistan, disturbing trade and increasing the prices of basic goods and fuelAnd provoking the return of the additional Afghans from Iran, “she said, echoing the Urgent call from the Secretary General for De-Escaad.
Anticipate more repatriates
More than 600,000 Afghans have returned from Pakistan and neighboring Iran this year, and she said that United Nations agencies were preparing for potential cross -border movements from Iran taking into account “developments concerning” in the region.
“” Iran’s return alone in the past few days have exceeded 10,000 per day“She said.
Local communities and de facto Taliban authorities “have made enormous efforts to absorb repatriages, but Without international assistance, there are limits to safe, orderly and peaceful yields. “”
Concerns about engagement
Otunbayeva has updated the UN continuous commitment to the Taliban leaders who came to power almost four years ago.
This “complete approach” aims to achieve an Afghanistan who is at peace with himself and his neighbors, fully reintegrated in the international community, responds to his international obligations and without going through another cycle of violence.
She pointed out that he “does not seek to normalize the status quo But make sure that several key concerns-in particular to maintain the country’s international obligations-remain at the heart of commitment efforts. »»
A teenager in Afghanistan remains at home because she is no longer allowed to go to school.
The erasure of the rights of women and girls continues
She said the international community “remains extremely concerned about the fact that commitment has not improved the unacceptable situation of Afghan women and girls, promoted inclusive governance or prevented a marked deterioration in human rights”.
In the meantime, the de facto The authorities have transmitted grievances around frozen assets, sanctions, non-recognition, the need for greater development assistance and an end of dependence.
She noted that the UN would summon meetings of two working groups on the counter-note and the private sector to be held in Doha, in Qatar, in the coming days, calling for this “an important development which gives momentum to multilateral engagement and strengthens confidence in the value of mutual cooperation”.
Relative stability, restrictive policies
Otunbayeva said that the Taliban rule has ensured a relative stability and security in Afghanistan, promoted modest economic growth and foreign investment, launched dormant and deepened infrastructure projects abroad, especially in the region.
However, the authorities “continue to implement highly restrictive and discriminatory policies on the Afghan people”, as embodied in the “Law on the propagation of virtue and prevention of vice”, which entered into force last August.
This law has “cemented” the systematic and systematic policies of the Taliban who exclude women and girls from participation in public life, including access to education, employment, freedom of movement and freedom of expression.
Risk reinstatement
“” Thanks to this law, the de facto The authorities continue to follow a path that distances Afghanistan from its international obligations and obstructs the possible reinstatement of Afghanistann in the international system, “she said.
“We cannot forget the unacceptable situation of Afghan women and girls, even if their continuous marginalization under an increased application more and more decrees no longer generates titles.”
The continuous ban on the education of girls beyond primary school “is the most clear sign of the discrimination of the Taliban towards women and continues to distinguish Afghanistan from the world,” she said, calling for the prohibition to be lifted and that girls and women have the right to education again.
One in five hungry
Joyce Msuya, United Nations Deputy Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs, said how the financing cuts have an impact on Afghanistan, where half of all people need help to survive.
The population is confronted with “persistent humanitarian needs and treble aggravated by decades of conflict, rooted poverty, a constantly evolving climate, serious restrictions on the rights of women and girls and a very constrained financing environment”, it said.
Today, one in five Afghans hungry, 3.5 million children are seriously suffering from malnutrition and around 3.7 million children are without school, including 2.2 million girls over 11 years old who are prohibited from education. In addition, the maternal mortality rate is greater than 2.5 times the world average.
Health establishments have closed its doors
She said that help reductions continue to hinder the humanitarian response and that 420 health establishments have been forced to close their doors, affecting more than three million people.
“Nearly 300 nutritional sites have closed, depriving 80,000 children of acute malnutrition, pregnant women and new mothers of essential treatment,” she added.
“Despite the challenges, and at great risk, our Afghan colleagues continue to provide help, to go where others cannot, listen to communities which otherwise are not heard and which will be held by those who could otherwise be forgotten,” she said.
The difficulties increase
Sima Bahous, executive director of United NationsSupported calls to more diplomacy to fight against the spiral crisis in the Middle East and Iran.
“The growing regional and global insecurity will only deepen the difficulties to which Afghan women and girls, aggravating poverty, movement, violence and deprivation”, warned.
In addition, the ability of the UN and the partners to support Afghan women has been considerably undermined by legal and bureaucratic barriers that make it more difficult than ever to hire women, not to mention them, at a time when deep cuts to help budgets “have ever more devastating consequences”.
“Unwavering determination”
“However, we remain and we deliver, as we have always done,” said Ms. Bahous, stressing how UN women continue to sail through endless restrictions and negotiate with the Taliban.
“And Afghan women continue to show the way,” she added. “They opened underground schools; organized in silence; built lives in these spaces of space which are left to them. They have shown an unshakable determination, even when the world has weakened. »»
Publicado anteriormente en Almouwatin.
