The Security Council adopted a resolution facilitating aid to Afghanistan
With the passage of this resolution, humanitarian aid to Afghanistan, which is on the verge of economic collapse, will be facilitated, but at the same time the Taliban will be denied access to this financial aid.
The resolution, proposed and approved by the United States, authorizes the payment of funds, the provision of financial assets or economic resources, goods and services necessary to ensure the timely delivery of humanitarian aid or support for such activities in Afghanistan. Is.
This assistance supports basic humanitarian needs in Afghanistan and does not violate sanctions imposed on Taliban-affiliated institutions.
According to this resolution, humanitarian aid and other activities that support basic human needs in Afghanistan are not a violation of paragraph 1 (a) of Resolution 2255 of 22 December 2015.
The resolution calls on the UN Relief Coordinator for Emergency Relief to report to the Security Council every six months on the delivery of humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan, including the payment of funds to designated individuals or entities. The Security Council shall issue an evaluation resolution one year after the implementation of paragraph 1.
The United States has frozen $ 9.5 billion in assets of the Central Bank of Afghanistan since the Taliban came to power in mid-August 2021.
The previous draft resolution proposed by the United States, which called for a case-by-case agreement on humanitarian aid to Afghanistan and an exemption from sanctions, was not approved by other permanent members of the Security Council, including China and Russia.
Negotiations on the draft resolution proposed by the United States were difficult. China believed that the technical instructions of the Afghan Sanctions Committee showed the non-inclusion of sanctions in the humanitarian field, and Russia supported China’s position.
“Humanitarian and vital aid must reach the people of Afghanistan without hindrance,” said Zhangjun, China’s ambassador to the United Nations.
The US representative to the Security Council also welcomed the exclusion of humanitarian aid to Afghanistan from any sanctions, as well as the importance of its current international role in Afghanistan.
Since the Taliban came to power, several individuals on the 1988 sanctions list are now in charge of ministries or other government agencies with which humanitarian organizations are in regular contact.
The ambiguity about the alignment of these exchanges with the 1988 sanctions regime has led to operational difficulties for humanitarian organizations assisting the Afghan people.
Several reporters have consistently conveyed to the Security Council the urgency of addressing the dire humanitarian situation in Afghanistan.
The latest food security report on Afghanistan, released on October 25, warns that 22.8 million Afghans will face crisis or emergency levels of food insecurity between November 2021 and March 2022. This represents a 35% increase over the same period.
In September, the UN Secretary-General applied for $ 606 million in humanitarian assistance to 11 million Afghans in various fields, including food and agricultural security, emergency education, water, health, nutrition and protection. کرد.
Following international pressure on the United States to continue freezing Taliban assets after the group came to power in Afghanistan, the US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control issued three public permits to facilitate the delivery of vital aid to Afghanistan.
The State Department announced that these licenses will be added to previous licenses and will facilitate the provision of humanitarian assistance and other activities that meet basic humanitarian needs and provide broader support to the Afghan people in accordance with Security Council Resolution 2615 (2021).
The State Department, meanwhile, said US sanctions against the Taliban were in place and that the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control had issued the permits to provide substantial assistance and support to vulnerable Afghans from NGOs, international organizations and The US government provides.
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