Afghanistan: towards a UN Security Council compromise on humanitarian aid
Afghans line up to receive cash provided by the United Nations World Food Program on November 3, 2021 (Illustrative image).
AP - Bram Janssen
Text by: RFI Follow
1 min
It is a beacon of hope for the Afghan people: a compromise is about to be reached within the UN Security Council in order to facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid.
Under pressure from China, the United States indeed amended a draft resolution and abandoned the idea of a mechanism "on a case-by-case basis" for this aid that the Afghans desperately need.
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How to ensure the delivery of humanitarian aid without consolidating or legitimizing the Taliban regime?
How to authorize banks, NGOs, international institutions to provide this aid when the country's leaders are on the UN sanctions list?
It is this highly delicate equation that the international community must resolve to avoid a humanitarian crisis which promises to be particularly serious.
A first aid mechanism rejected by China
As a first step, the United States wanted to put in place a case-by-case exemption mechanism, to allow the flow of this aid.
A mechanism rejected by China which, with the help of Russia, had blocked the draft resolution.
Washington finally gave in on this point, and removed this mechanism from its text.
Hoping for rapid adoption by the UN Security Council.
It is urgent because the country has still not obtained the thaw of its bank assets.
The Afghan economy is at a standstill, and many NGOs are worried about the risk of famine if nothing is done to facilitate the rapid arrival of humanitarian aid.
►Also read: Afghanistan: for the UN, humanitarian aid must be a lever on the Taliban
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