The United Nations Security Council voted on Friday to extend the UN political mission in Afghanistan for six more months.
The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) will continue working for half a year more. It will deal with humanitarian efforts and development without involving itself in peacekeeping.
The text of the resolution, drafted by Estonia and Norway and tweeted by the UN Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs, urged the Taliban for the creation of an inclusive representative government in Afghanistan.
The 15-member Security Council also called for “full, equal and meaningful participation of women and upholding human rights, including for women, children and minorities”.
The UN, it said, will continue to play an “important role” in promoting peace and stability in Afghanistan.
The council asked Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to brief it every other month on the situation in Afghanistan until the mandate is due again to expire in March 2022.
It also wants a written report on the future of the mission by January 31.
In recent weeks several NGOs such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have pressed for the UN and its 2,000 staffers in Afghanistan to stay in place to report on human rights abuses.
According to Louis Charbonneau, the UN director at Human Rights Watch, the Taliban were yet to demonstrate that they would comply with the tenets of international human rights law, especially those of women and girls.
He said that UNAMA would need to file regular reports on abuses committed by the new Taliban regime besides “helping meet the humanitarian needs of the Afghan people”.
Several non-governmental organisations such as Amnesty International had urged the UN and its 2,000 staffers in Afghanistan to stay and report human rights abuses.
In August earlier this year, another Security Council resolution that called for freedom of movement for Afghans wishing to leave the country after the Taliban takeover won 13 votes, as Russia and China abstained.
Diplomats said that the Taliban did not object to the UN mandate being renewed.
from SAMAA https://ift.tt/3hGAjDa
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