The United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told the Security Council that Afghanistan is “hanging by a thread,” calling for countries to authorize all transactions needed to carry out humanitarian activities in the Taliban-ruled state.
As per details, Antonio Guterres also pushed for a suspension of any rules or conditions constricting “lifesaving” aid operations as millions in the country suffer extreme hunger, education and social services are on the brink of collapse, and a lack of liquidity limits the capacity of the United Nations and aid groups to reach people in need.
The UN Secretary-General said that “We need to give financial institutions and commercial partners legal assurance that they can work with humanitarian operators without fear of breaching sanctions,” noting that the 15-member council last month adopted a humanitarian exemption to U.N. sanctions tied to Afghanistan.
Some $9.5 billion in Afghan central bank reserves remain blocked abroad and international development support has dried up since the Taliban seized power in August, In December, donors to a frozen World Bank-administered Afghan Reconstruction Trust Fund agreed to transfer $280 million to the World Food Program and U.N. children’s agency UNICEF to support nutrition and health in Afghanistan.
Antonio Guterres said that the remaining $1.2 billion in the fund needed “to be freed up urgently to help Afghanistan’s people survive the winter.”
Russia and China, During the U.N. Security Council meeting took aim at the United States over unilateral sanctions and frozen Afghan assets.
China’s U.N. ambassador, Zhang Jun, said that “In the current situation, unilateral sanctions have the effect of freezing not only Afghanistan’s financial assets, but also hopes of the Afghan people to survive. The unilateral sanctions are no less lethal than military intervention,”
Linda Thomas-Greenfield, The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations told the council that Washington had moved to ensure that U.S. sanctions do not impede humanitarian activity and it is examining various options to ease the liquidity crunch.”
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