UN votes to secure formal presence in Taliban-ruled Afghanistan

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The UN Security Council has adopted a resolution to secure a formal presence in Afghanistan, which the Taliban government remains not recognized by the international community.

Resolution, without using the word “Taliban”, spelling a new one-year mandate for the UN political mission in Afghanistan, called it “very important” for peace. The voting was 14 supported, with one abstained, by Russia.

This resolution includes several strings of cooperation, on the humanitarian, political and human rights fronts, including women, children and journalists.

The new mandate for UNAMA [the UN mission to Afghanistan] is very important not only to respond to the humanitarian and economic crisis directly, but also to achieve our peace goals and stability in Afghanistan,” Norwegian Ambassador Mona Juul, whose country compiled a resolution, told the office AFP news after voting on Thursday.

The Board provides a clear message with this new mandate: UNAMA has an important role to play in promoting peace and stability in Afghanistan and to support Afghans when they face unprecedented challenges and uncertainties, “Juul said.

Reporting from the UN headquarters in New York City, Christian Saloomey Al Jazeera said the resolution was an UN mandate renewal to operate in Afghanistan.

All members of the Security Council agreed that Afghanistan needed UN assistance to avoid economic collapse and humanitarian disasters.

The problem is how to deal with the Taliban, an agreed entity based on international law for its role in the September 11 attacks,” he said, explaining that there was a lot of discussion about how to bring help to Afghanistan without formally recognizing the Taliban.