Kabul, Nov 16 (UNI) Ahead of a United Nations Security Council session on Afghanistan on Wednesday, Taliban spokesperson Suhail Shaheen, who has been nominated by the Islamic Emirate as its envoy for the UN, renewed a call for the United Nations seat for the current Kabul regime.
On Wednesday, the UNSC is expected to address the situation in Afghanistan where a humanitarian crisis is looming.
There will be a briefing, followed by consultations, on Afghanistan. Special Representative and head of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) Deborah Lyons and civil society representatives are expected to brief the session.
Suhail Shaheen, the Islamic Emirate’s Doha-based spokesperson, said the current government in Afghanistan “possesses what makes it eligible to represent the country at the UN”, he said on Twitter, repeating a call for Afghanistan’s UN seat.
Mohammad Hassan Haqyar, Kabul-based political analyst, said he expected the meeting would entail aid pledges for Afghanistan. The world’s recognition of the new government would also be discussed, he said, the Killid Group reported.
As member of the world body and the community, Haqyar said, Afghans have the right to be given a hand at this difficult time.
Some 23 million people in Afghanistan are in desperate need of food, and the $20 billion economy could shrink by $4 billion or more and 97% of the 38 million population are at risk of sinking into poverty, Abdallah Al Dardari, the resident representative for the UNDP in Afghanistan, has said.
The Islamic Emirate swept into power in Afghanistan in mid-August, but has yet to win international recognition.
The new rulers have several times made the call on the global community to recognise the new Islamic government.
The international community, however, is reluctant to recognise the new government or provide it with funds until the rulers provide assurances that it will uphold human rights and fulfil promises.
In September, the United Nations hosted a high-level donors conference to drum up emergency funds for Afghanistan. Donors at the event pledged more than $1 billion that went beyond the United Nations’ $606 million appeal it was seeking to help millions of people in Afghanistan until the end of the year.
UNI/RN