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UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 14 (Xinhua) -- The UN envoy to Afghanistan on Wednesday highlighted challenges facing the Asian country due to decades-long violence and instability, stressing that avenues for peace there must be explored with utmost urgency and seriousness.
"As one of the world's most aid-dependent countries, it will be difficult for Afghanistan to achieve self-reliance as long as there is conflict," Tadamichi Yamamoto, the special representative of the UN chief to Afghanistan, said while briefing the UN Security Council on the current situation in Afghanistan.
"Conflict diverts resources, which would be better spent on developing Afghanistan and helping its people," he said. "Peace is therefore a requirement."
Yamamoto, who is also head of the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), underlined the need to resolve political tensions between two senior leaders in the government to ensure that it is stable.
"No effective policies are possible if the government is internally divided," he said, noting that tensions had surfaced, with public criticism by Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah about what he viewed as the incomplete implementation of the political agreement of 2014.
Meanwhile, Yamamoto noted that the two leaders have met several times since then to try to identify the issues and to seek solutions and said efforts are still underway and further meetings are expected.
He called on the leaders to show to the people of Afghanistan and to the international community that they are able to govern effectively. He also welcomed the recent signature by Afghan President Ashraf Ghani of the legislative decree for electoral reform.
"The political agenda must progress constructively, political stability must be maintained; and the elections must take place," he said, telling the 15-nation UN council that the second anniversary of the 2014 political agreement that established the National Unity Government draws near, the political oppositions have increasingly challenged the legitimacy of the government.
VOLATILE SECURITY SITUATION
The UN envoy, while drawing attention of the council to the volatile security situation within the country, expressed concern that the toll extracted by violence on civilians continues to increase.
"Nowhere is this trend more apparent than for children, among whom there has been an 18 percent increase in casualties, with 388 children killed in six months," he said.
Health and social systems in Afghanistan can also face further strain as the number of people newly displaced by the conflict is being added to by a massive increase in the number of Afghan families returning back from Pakistan, he said.
"If current trends continue, Afghanistan will have to meet the needs of at least one million people on the move," Yamamoto said, adding that unless urgent measures are taken, thousands of families could suffer due to the upcoming winter season.
POSITIVE DEVELOPMENT
In his briefing, Yamamoto also touched upon some positive developments in Afghanistan.
In particular, the UN envoy welcomed President Ghani's comprehensive, long-term approach to tackling corruption, which seeks to develop the architecture needed to prevent corruption, as well as hold those responsible for corruption to account.
He also acknowledged the Afghan government's continued progress on other reform and mutual accountability commitments, in particular preparing for the country's National Peace and Development Framework and successfully negotiating a new International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme.
Talking about the upcoming Brussels Conference on development in Afghanistan, Yamamoto called on the Afghan government to "seize this opportunity" that meeting will offer.
At the same time, he also welcomed the government's plan to hold a side event at the coming conference to spotlight the challenges facing by the country's women who were widowed by the longstanding conflict.
Yamamoto said that the country has an opportunity to build on its achievements of the past 15 years and move towards stability and self-reliance.
"With effective government and the continued support of the international community it has every chance of succeeding," he added.
