26 June 2002
UN Security Council Supports Afghan Developments
(Security Council resolution 1419) (1130)
The Security Council June 26 reiterated its strong support for
Afghanistan's new Transitional Authority and its head of state, Hamid
Karzai, and called on all Afghan groups to cooperate fully with the
new government.
At a formal public meeting, the council unanimously adopted a
resolution that also stressed the importance of continued
international financial support to the process started by the Bonn
Agreement and called upon donor countries to fulfill their commitments
promptly.
The resolution was passed just days after the council was briefed on
the situation in Afghanistan by Kieran Prendergast, undersecretary
general for political affairs. He called the emergency loya jirga
(grand council) a success for a number of reasons including the fact
that despite enormous logistically difficulties it was held and that
it accomplished what it was mandated to do under the Bonn Agreement.
"The fact that Afghans from every region, ethnicity, educational
level, and occupation were able to gather together peacefully, to
debate heatedly, yet ultimately to agree on fundamental questions
regarding their common political future is the third -- and surely the
most important -- success of the emergency loya jirga," Prendergast
said.
Overlooked in the highly publicized disputes during the loya jirga
"was an encouraging reformist vision of government presented by Mr.
Karzai in his acceptance speech on 13 June," he said.
However, the generally positive developments in Kabul are being
overshadowed by a deteriorating security situation in some parts of
the country and "a worrying decline in donor funding for Afghanistan,"
the undersecretary general said.
"Already many organizations, most notably the World Food Program, the
Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, and the
International Organization for Migration have been forced to scale
back, or even halt operations," he said. "This funding shortfall,
moreover, makes it extremely difficult for those agencies, and
consequently for the United Nations system as a whole, to prepare the
necessary transition towards increased recovery programming later in
the year."
Prendergast also said that in a serious departure from what has been a
generally hospitable attitude by Afghans towards aid workers for the
past 10 years, a number of armed attacks and robberies have been
carried out against international aid organizations in northern
Afghanistan. The UN has talked with local authorities but no serious
measures are being taken to apprehend the criminals.
"If the security situation continues to deteriorate, aid organizations
might be forced to cut their operations in the north. This would make
it much more difficult to persuade donors to invest in recovery and
reconstruction projects in the region," he said.
Following is the text of the Security Council resolution:
(begin text)
26 June 2002
Resolution 1419
The Security Council,
Reaffirming its previous resolutions on Afghanistan, in particular its
resolution 1383 (2001) of 6 December 2001,
Reaffirming also its strong commitment to the sovereignty,
independence, territorial integrity and national unity of Afghanistan,
Reaffirming also its strong commitment to help the people of
Afghanistan to bring to an end the tragic conflicts in Afghanistan and
promote lasting peace, stability, and respect for human rights,
Reaffirming also its strong support for international efforts to root
out terrorism, in keeping with the Charter of the United Nations, and
reaffirming also its resolutions 1368 (2001) of 12 September 2001 and
1373 (2001) of 28 September 2001,
Reiterating its endorsement of the Agreement on Provisional
Arrangements in Afghanistan Pending the Re-establishment of Permanent
Government Institutions, signed in Bonn on 5 December 2001
(S/2001/1154) (the Bonn Agreement), and welcoming initial steps for
its implementation, including the establishment of the Human Rights
and Judicial Commissions,
1. Welcomes the successful and peaceful holding, from 11 June to 19
June, of the Emergency Loya Jirga opened by former King Mohammed
Zaher, the "Father of the Nation," and notes with particular
satisfaction the large participation of women, as well as the
representation of all ethnic and religious communities;
2. Commends the Afghan people for the success of the Emergency Loya
Jirga and encourages them to continue to exercise their inalienable
right to determine freely their own political future;
3. Welcomes the election, by the Emergency Loya Jirga, of the Head of
State, President Hamid Karzai, and the establishment of the
Transitional Authority;
4. Reiterates its strong support for the Transitional Authority in the
full implementation of the Bonn Agreement, including the establishment
of a Constitutional Commission, and in strengthening the central
government, building a national army and police force, implementing
demobilization/reintegration activities and improving the security
situation throughout Afghanistan, combating illicit drug trafficking,
ensuring respect for human rights, implementing judicial sector
reform, establishing the basis for a sound economy and reconstructing
productive capacity and infrastructure;
5. Calls on all Afghan groups, in this regard, to cooperate fully with
the Transitional Authority in order to complete the process according
to the Bonn Agreement and to implement the decisions of the Emergency
Loya Jirga;
6. Urges the Transitional Authority to build on efforts of the Interim
Administration to eradicate the annual poppy crop;
7. Urges also the Transitional Authority to build further on efforts
of the Interim Administration to promote the welfare and interests of
Afghan women and children and to provide education to boys and girls;
8. Commends the role of the United Nations system in support of
efforts by the Afghans, reiterates its strong support for the Special
Representative of the Secretary General, Mr. Lakhdar Brahimi, and the
staff of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA),
and reaffirms its endorsement of the full authority of the Special
Representative of the Secretary-General, in accordance with its
relevant resolutions, over the planning and conduct of all United
Nations activities in Afghanistan;
9. Commends also the contribution of the International Security
Assistance Force (ISAF) in providing a secure environment for the
Emergency Loya Jirga;
10. Stresses once again the importance of continued international
support to complete the process according to the Bonn Agreement, calls
upon donor countries that pledged financial aid at the Tokyo
conference to fulfill their commitments promptly and calls upon all
Member States to support the Transitional Authority and to provide
long-term assistance, as well as current budget support, for the
current expenses of the Transitional Authority, and for the social and
economic reconstruction and rehabilitation of Afghanistan as a whole;
11. Calls for significantly greater and more rapid international
assistance to the vast number of Afghan refugees and internally
displaced persons to facilitate their orderly return and effective
reintegration into society in order to contribute to the stability of
the entire country;
12. Calls upon all Afghan groups to support full and unimpeded access
by humanitarian organizations to people in need and to ensure the
safety and security of humanitarian workers;
13. Decides to remain actively seized of the matter.
(end text)
(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S.
Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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