United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan |
|
|---|---|
| Org type | Political mission |
| Acronyms | UNAMA |
| Head | Staffan de Mistura[4] |
| Status | Mandate (Resolution 1974) expires 23 March 2012 |
| Established | 28 March 2002[1] |
| Website | UNAMA website |
| Parent org | United Nations Security Council |
The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) is a political UN mission established at the request of the Government of Afghanistan to assist it and the people of Afghanistan in laying the foundations for sustainable peace and development. UNAMA was established on 28 March 2002 by United Nations Security Council Resolution 1401.[1] Its original mandate was to support the Bonn Agreement (December 2001). Reviewed annually, this mandate has been altered over time to reflect the needs of the country and was extended until 23 March 2012 by Resolution 1974.[2] UNAMA’s mandate currently has the following elements: to support the Government in its efforts to improve critical areas, including security, governance and economic development, and regional cooperation, as well as to support the full implementation of mutual commitments made on these issues at the London Conference in January 2010 and the subsequent Kabul Conference in July 2010 agreed in the Afghanistan National Development Strategy and the National Drugs Control Strategy. Key areas of UNAMA's work are promoting human rights; providing technical assistance; and continuing to manage and coordinate all UN-led humanitarian relief, recovery, reconstruction and development activities in Afghanistan.[3] These were endorsed by the UN Security Council in Resolution 1662.[4]
The United Nations have been involved in the region since 1946 when Afghanistan joined the General Assembly, with the UNDP carrying out aid and development work from the 1950s.
Human rights and development in Afghanistan have long been an issue in one of the least-developed countries of the world. In 1985 there was a Special Rapporteur on human rights in Afghanistan, whose advice led the Security Council to condemn widespread disregard for human rights and large-scale violations in resolution 40/137.[5]
In the early 1990s Operation Salam was the UN’s emergency relief operation, headed by Baron Sevan the Secretary-General’s Special Representative.
In December 1993 the United Nations Special Mission to Afghanistan was set up as a ‘bridging’ agency between the UN and the Afghan leaders. This made it easier for the UN to help Afghan leaders with national reconciliation and reconstruction.
On 7 October 2001 the foreign intervention in Afghanistan began as the armed forces of the United States of America, the United Kingdom and the Afghan United Front (Northern Alliance) launched Operation Enduring Freedom. The primary driver of the invasion was the September 11 attacks on the United States, with the stated goal of dismantling the Al-Qaeda terrorist organization and ending its use of Afghanistan as a base. The United States also said that it would remove the Taliban regime from power and create a viable democratic state.
On 5 December 2001 the Bonn Agreement was signed in Germany by Afghan political groups opposing the Taliban. It was ratified by the Security Council the following day under Resolution 1383. Resolution 1386 confirmed the UN’s commitment to the agreement by authorising an International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) to help maintain security in Kabul and the surrounding areas.
Established in March 2002, established at the request of the Government to assist it and the people of Afghanistan in laying the foundations for sustainable peace and development. UNAMA has functioned as a highly influential body representing international and Afghan efforts at reconstruction and development.
UNAMA is a political mission of the UN and comes under the remit of the UN’s Department of Peacekeeping Operations. Its headquarter is in Kabul. In addition UNAMA has 23 regional and provincial offices across Afghanistan and liaison offices in Islamabad and Teheran. The regional offices are in Kabul, Herat, Bamyan, Gardez, Kandahar, Jalalabad, Kunduz, and Mazar-i-Sharif.[4] Currently, UNAMA has more than 1,600 civilian staff. Around 80% of UNAMA’s staff are Afghan nationals, who work in various positions and levels within the political mission. Both the widespread presence and inclusive nature of the staff of UNAMA are considered a valuable asset, especially with attempts to coordinate relief and recovery programmes with the various interested parties around the country.[6]
UNAMA is headed by the Special Representative of the Secretary-General (SRSG) for Afghanistan, Staffan de Mistura, who was appointed to the post in 2010, replacing Kai Eide. There are three earlier Special Representatives – Lakhdar Brahimi (former Algerian Foreign Minister) who served from October 2001 to January 2004, despite resigning from the post 2 years earlier;[7] and Jean Arnault who held the post from February 2004 to February 2006, followed by Tom Koenigs who held the post from March 2006 to December 2007.
The head of UNAMA is responsible for all UN activities in the country. There are also two deputy Special Representatives (DSRSG) who oversee the main pillars of the mission – developmental issues and political matters. Included under these pillars are departments specialising in human rights, policing, military, drugs and gender issues.
The developmental pillar of UNAMA focuses on relief efforts, delivery aid to where it is needed most, and the reconstruction of the infrastructure and other important components of society. This pillar is headed by Michael Keating, the Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Relief, Recovery and Reconstruction.
The political affairs pillar is led by a Deputy Special Representative responsible for supporting political outreach, conflict resolution, disarmament and regional cooperation. The political mandate of UNAMA supported the implementation of the institutional and political objectives of the Bonn Agreement, signed in November 2001, as well as a range of peace-building tasks. The political affairs pillar also includes an Election Support Unit, a Military Advisory Unit, and a Police Advisory Unit, which are responsible for coordinating international support for institution-building in each of those sectors.
The Political Affairs part of UNAMA is currently headed by Wolfgang Weisbrod-Weber. The Political Affairs department has been successful in seeing through a number of elections since 2002. Hamid Karzai was elected as President of the Afghanistan Transitional Authority on June 19, 2002, after holding the post of Chairman of the Emergency Loya Jirga required by the Bonn Agreement.
In 2004 democratic presidential elections were held, with Karzai winning 55.4% of the vote (21 out of 34 provinces),[8] and in 2005 Parliamentary elections were held across the country. In 2005 parliamentary elections were held.
In human rights areas less information is available but the treatment of women has greatly improved, with schooling and employment rates increasing steadily since the extremist Taliban were toppled from power.
Michael Keating leads the RRR section of UNAMA, which serves to further integrate the reconstruction efforts in Afghanistan, especially in regard to women’s rights, capacity building and overseeing a responsive relief effort both from international and Afghan bodies.
The 2002 Tokyo Conference was a success for the RRR section with Secretary-General Kofi Annan calling for $10billion in aid over a 10 year period from the international community to help rebuild Afghanistan. Although not achieving this high aim, Annan did receive pledges of $5billion over a 6 year period. Such fundraising work has continued, with $8.2 billion being raised at the 2004 Berlin International Conference on Afghanistan.[9]
Nationwide immunization campaigns have been launched, the number of children in education has dramatically increased and the RRR team formulated a National Development Framework with the Transitional Authority.
Under Brahimi’s leadership, and that of subsequent Special Representatives, UNAMA has taken a minimal involvement policy, especially in regard to political processes in Afghanistan. This commitment to a “light, expatriate footprint”[10] upholds the UN Security Council’s statement in resolution 1401 that sort to reaffirm the UN’s “strong commitment to the sovereignty, independence, territorial integrity and national unity of Afghanistan”.[11]
The mission has provided extensive support for political processes to take place though. Transport, communications, voter registration and information campaigns and election monitoring were all provided by UNAMA in efforts to allow a fair, representative and successful transition in government. UNAMA’s efforts have continued from the initial Emergency Loya Jirga in June 2002 to presidential elections and national assembly elections in 2004 and 2005 respectively.
The position of UNAMA and the Special Representative as co-chair of the Joint Co-ordination and Monitoring Board (JCMB), which aligns international and Afghan efforts to succeed with the aims of the Afghanistan Compact, also gives the mission great access, responsibility and influence in the country.
UNAMA and the JCMB helped to conduct the 2004 elections in which 10.5 million Afghans voted (41% of which were women.[12]
UNAMA’s success is shown in other walks of life with over 4.2 million children now in education and around 3 million refugees repatriated to Afghanistan since 2002.
As UNAMA oversees the entire UN response to the needs of the Afghan people a number of UN agencies fall under their auspices. Some of these have been working in the country for a number of years, with UN involvement stemming from Afghanistan’s membership of the United Nations General Assembly in 1946. In addition, in 2011, all the UN agencies and programmes in Afghanistan agreed to work together on five main priorities which include 1) peace, reconciliation and reintegration; 2) human rights protection and promotion; 3) sub-national governance and the rule of law; 4) maternal and newborn health; and 5) sustainable livelihoods.
The UN Country Team includes agencies such as the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation, the World Food Programme, and the UNHCR. Other agencies coordinate and provide aid, medical care, education and human rights advice.
In the course of the ongoing conflict in Afghanistan also UNAMA and the UN as an entity have become a target in Afghanistan. In November 2003 a bomb exploded outside UN offices in Kandahar, a staff member of the UNHCR was murdered and bombs were targeted at a UNAMA guesthouse in Kabul. On 28 October 2004, 3 UN electoral employees were kidnapped, and not released until 23 November. Other electoral personnel around the country were also attacked, including people working for the UNHCR and other Non-Governmental Organisations.
On 28 October 2009 a UN guest house in Kabul was attacked. The attack on Bakhtar guest house happened in the early hours of the morning when three attackers stormed a guest house used by the United Nations, killing five UN staff, two Afghan security personnel and an Afghan civilian.[13]
On 1 April 2011, the UNAMA's regional Office in Mazar-i-Sharif was attacked and 7 UNAMA personnel were killed by angry demonstrators in Mazar-i-Sharif,[14] including 5 Nepalese guards and 3 other members of staff.[15] Pajhwok Afghan News reported that the dead included Norwegian, Romanian and Swedish nationals.