3 yıl önce

UN Security Council adopts resolution to facilitate Afghanistan aid

The assistance will support basic human needs in Afghanistan and is not a violation of sanctions imposed on entities linked to the Taliban, the resolution says.

AFP

The international community has struggled over how to avert a humanitarian catastrophe amid economic meltdown in Afghanistan since the Taliban swept back to power in mid-August.

The UN Security Council has unanimously adopted a US-proposed resolution that facilitates humanitarian aid to Afghanistan, which is on the verge of economic collapse, while keeping funds out of Taliban hands.

The resolution stated on Wednesday that "payment of funds, other financial assets or economic resources, and the provision of goods and services necessary to ensure the timely delivery of such assistance or to support such activities are permitted."

Such assistance supports "basic human needs in Afghanistan" and is "not a violation" of sanctions imposed on entities linked to the Taliban, it adds.

The international community has struggled over how to avert a humanitarian catastrophe amid economic meltdown in Afghanistan since the Taliban swept back to power in mid-August, prompting the United States to freeze $9.5 billion in assets belonging to the Afghancentral bank.

An earlier US resolution had sought to authorise case-by-case exemptions to sanctions, but that was blocked by veto-wielding permanent Security Council members China and Russia.

"Humanitarian aid and life-saving assistance must be able to reach the Afghan people without any hindrance," China's UN Ambassador, Zhang Jun, said in a tweet on Monday.

The decision to limit the scope of the resolution to one year, which was not part of the first draft, aims to satisfy Washington's European allies, who, like India, had criticised the absence of any deadline and called for strict control over the destination of aid.

'Urgent' humanitarian situation

US said on Tuesday it believes there is an "urgent" humanitarian situation in Afghanistan with winter approaching and is working with UN bodies to find ways to get aid and liquidity into the Afghan economy.

In a regular press briefing on Monday, State Department spokesperson Ned Price also called on regional and nearby countries to do more to help the situation in Afghanistan.

More than 40 House Democrats have called on the treasury secretary to unfreeze Afghanistan's central bank reserves to prevent a humanitarian crisis.

The Democratic House members said the collapse of the Afghan currency would only lead to further humanitarian collapse.

The UN warns that one million children are at risk of death due to malnutrition.

But the appeal faces stiff opposition from Republicans as well as significant legal hurdles.

SOURCE: AFP