Attachments
New York, 12 December 2024
As delivered
Thank you, Madam President.
And thank you, SRSG [Special Representative of the Secretary-General, Roza Otunbayeva], for your leadership.
Although too rarely in the headlines, Afghanistan remains in the grip of a staggering humanitarian crisis.
So let me give you some other headlines. Almost half the population lives in poverty.
The climate crisis caused thousands of Afghans to lose their livestock, crops and homes this year.
Over a third of the population does not have access to health services.
One in three Afghans are food insecure.
Malnutrition rates are alarmingly high and continue to increase.
And the continuing return of Afghans – more than a million this year – from neighbouring countries is putting further pressure on already overstretched services.
So in all, half the population needs our support, making Afghanistan the second-largest humanitarian crisis in the world right now.
And now on top of all this, as we’ve heard, the authorities have banned Afghan women from attending public and private medical institutes and from completing their end-of-semester exams.
This was the last remaining sector in which Afghan women could pursue higher-level learning, following the ban on girls’ higher education in December 2022.
The directive will cause serious and lasting damage to healthcare for Afghan women and girls.
It could prevent more than 36,000 midwives and 2,800 nurses from entering the workforce in the next few years. Rates of antenatal, neonatal and maternal mortality will dramatically increase.
And this in a country where one third of women already give birth without professional medical support and in which preventable maternal complications claim the life of a woman every two hours.
This troubling news comes hot on the heels of the “Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice” law, promulgated in August.
Since the adoption of that law, the proportion of Afghan women humanitarian workers who report being prevented from attending their vital work rose from 22 to 47 per cent between September and December.
And likewise, the proportion of humanitarian organizations reporting that their female or male staff were stopped by the so-called morality police has increased from 18 to 40 per cent.
Madam President,
Humanitarian assistance remains essential in Afghanistan.
In 2024, the UN and our humanitarian partners provided life-saving support to almost 18 million people across the country, including 5.1 million women and 8.3 million children.
This is an impressive achievement given these challenges.
But underfunding for humanitarian support has forced closure of hundreds of medical centres this year, depriving 3 million Afghans of healthcare.
Almost 6 million people have lost monthly food distributions since May. Ration sizes for many others have had to be halved.
The de facto authorities’ interference in our programming undermines and delays the delivery of this essential support.
Madam President,
In this context, the ‘humanitarian exception’ in resolution 2615 plays a critical role in facilitating expenditures and payments necessary for delivery of humanitarian assistance.
These payments include bank transfers to line ministries for rent; withholding tax of national staff, landlords or contractors; cash payments for international visas at the airport; and cash deposited at Da Afghanistan Bank for humanitarian organizations’ licensing and registration fees.
As reported in previous briefings, none of these payments are new. They are being made to the same line ministries and via modalities already shared with the Council. All were made under the previous administration of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan prior to August 2021 and have not been introduced by the de facto authorities.
They constitute predictable, budgeted operational costs necessary to maintain the humanitarian response in Afghanistan. Without them, operations would cease.
Humanitarians in Afghanistan continue to make every effort to ensure that aid reaches the most vulnerable.
This includes direct monitoring, spot checks, third-party monitoring; systems and procedures for due diligence; implementation of robust risk management frameworks.
And where aid diversion occurs, we take swift action by immediately ceasing distributions; engaging with relevant entities at central and regional level; establishing clear compliance criteria for resumption of aid; and ensuring that donors are kept fully informed.
Madam President,
The critical role of resolution 2615 is undeniable.
Since the 15th of August 2021, the resolution has facilitated around US$6.7 billion in humanitarian support and $3.2 billion to meet basic [human] needs.
It has contributed to a 14 per cent reduction in food insecurity; a 21 per cent reduction in morbidity from diarrheal diseases; and a 41 per cent reduction in civilian casualties thanks to mine action interventions.
But to make a meaningful difference, the resolution must be accompanied by the delivery of significant humanitarian support.
So, my three asks of the Security Council are:
One, increased funding for humanitarian operations – $2.4 billion needed in 2025.
Two, your support to reduce aid obstruction and restrictive measures, especially those on women.
And three, investment and support for Afghans beyond humanitarian assistance – in agriculture, healthcare and other vital services.
Madam President,
Afghans face immense challenges. But they have not lost hope.
They have not stopped striving for their rights, their freedoms and their futures.
So nor should we.
As Afghans navigate this tough period, we must continue to support them, with international solidarity and with genuine humanity.
Thank you.
Disclaimer
- UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
- To learn more about OCHA's activities, please visit https://www.unocha.org/.