UN envoy says int'l engagement with Afghan Taliban must continue

Roza Otunbayeva (Front), the UN secretary-general's special representative and head of the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), speaks at a Security Council meeting at the UN headquarters in New York, on Dec. 20, 2022. (Eskinder Debebe/UN Photo/Handout via Xinhua)

UNITED NATIONS, Dec. 20 (Xinhua) -- The top UN envoy for Afghanistan said Tuesday that engagement with the Afghan Taliban by the international community must continue in some form.

"Afghans want continued engagement from the international community and believe that it is only through increased interaction with the de facto authorities (the Taliban) that positive change can take place," said Roza Otunbayeva, the UN secretary-general's special representative and head of the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA).

During UNAMA's stakeholder discussions, Afghans were frustrated with the international community's approach, said Otunbayeva.

They have expressed a desire for projects that are more long-term, that involve cash-for-work rather than handouts, that are more participatory and consultative, and more development-oriented, she told the Security Council in a briefing.

"Under current conditions, however, donors are increasingly unwilling to look beyond the provision of humanitarian assistance. As long as girls remain excluded from school and the de facto authorities continue to disregard other stated concerns of the international community, we remain at something of an impasse," she said. "In UNAMA, we are undertaking an internal review to assess what has and has not been effective in the implementation of our mandate. This will yield recommendations regarding our future mandate. But overall we believe that engagement with the de facto authorities must continue in some form."

UNAMA's focus must remain on the Afghan people, providing them with life-saving humanitarian assistance, giving a voice to their demands for fundamental rights and freedoms, and holding out hope that Afghanistan will not be isolated from the international community, she said. "We are committed to these goals and to trying to maintain a space for positive engagement with the Taliban. But we must do so with a sense of realism, patience, and a proper understanding of the situation as it evolves."

The stakeholder consultations were held between Oct. 11 and Nov. 8 in 12 provinces, involving 519 participants, including 189 women and 83 representatives of the de facto authorities, she said.

The concerns expressed by the population had to do with the ban on girls' education, lack of health facilities, mental health problems of the population, poverty and economic insecurity, and discrimination of ethnic minorities. The Taliban have not addressed these issues and, in many cases, their decisions have made them worse, she said.

There are some positive developments in Afghanistan, in particular on the economic front, said the special representative.

Overall levels of corruption are significantly down after the Taliban takeover. The significant reduction in state corruption helps explain that the de facto authorities have announced the collection of more revenues in the first 10 months of 2022 than the Republic of Afghanistan government collected in 2021 and 2020, despite an economic contraction of 20 percent in 2021, she said.

With these revenues, and by reducing the costs of government, the Taliban have managed to finance their operational budget and have indicated they have the resources to begin some development projects, she said.

The Taliban have also managed to maintain macroeconomic stability, albeit at a much lower level of economic activity. After a steep deterioration of the currency one year ago, the afghani has remained generally stable. Exports have risen to a historic level of about 1.7 billion U.S. dollars this year, compared with about 700 million dollars under the Republic, she said.

The de facto authorities are implementing an economic strategy that focuses on self-reliance. They are investing in sectors such as agriculture, irrigation, infrastructure, water management, mining, and industries, which provide a foundation for economic growth, she said.

The Taliban have identified the private sector as a key driver for economic growth and they are somewhat responsive to the concerns of private-sector actors. UNAMA has been in regular contact with private-sector actors and organizations, including women's chambers of commerce. The main impediment to greater investment is the high cost of international financial transactions, she said.

While the Taliban's economic management has been more effective than expected, it should also be recognized that international donors continue to feed more than half of the population. The cash payments required to deliver humanitarian assistance indirectly inject liquidity into the economy. Without this assistance, the picture in Afghanistan would be far bleaker, said Otunbayeva.

There is evidence that the Taliban are implementing their ban on the cultivation of opium and other narcotics by destroying fields that were planted before and after the announcement of the ban in April, she said.

The Taliban remain essentially in control of the country, but are unable to satisfactorily address terrorist groups operating inside Afghanistan. There is no significant visible political opposition to the Taliban inside Afghanistan. The exiled politicians of the Republic are of course vocal critics. But they are fragmented and their statements have decreasing resonance with the population inside Afghanistan. The Taliban reject the need for any sort of intra-Afghan dialogue and claim that their government is sufficiently representative, she said.

UNAMA continues to push at all levels for wider consultation and representation, and believes that the only way forward for Afghanistan is through a more pluralistic polity, where all Afghans, especially women and minorities, see themselves represented and have a real voice in decision-making. This is clearly not the case now, she said.

"It is clear that there are severe differences of positions on a range of issues between UNAMA and the de facto authorities. We, as the UN, have an ongoing dialogue with the Taliban regarding human rights concerns, and specific violations of international human rights law. We do not see eye-to-eye with the Taliban on a number of issues. But the focus is, and should be, on maintaining a dialogue in the hope of a better future for Afghanistan, where everyone -- women, men, girls and boys -- can live a life with dignity and equality," said Otunbayeva.