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Secretary-General Antonio Guterres also warned that ‘Afghanistan is hanging by a thread’ as millions of impoverished people struggle to survive.
The Taliban must defend the basic human rights of women and children, the head of the United Nations said, urging the international community to release frozen aid to Afghanistan so that families do not sell their babies to buy food.
Secretary-General Antonio Guterres also warned on Wednesday that “Afghanistan is hanging by a thread” by millions of people. impoverished citizens the struggle to survive while humanitarian conditions deteriorate.
“We urge the Taliban to seize this opportunity and gain international trust and goodwill by recognizing and upholding their basic human rights. to each girl and the woman, ”Guterres said at a meeting of the UN Security Council.
Concerned about the recent reports of arbitrary arrests and kidnappings of women activists, “I urge them to release them.”
At the same time, he added, “I call on the international community to increase support for the people of Afghanistan,” including the release of aid funds from Washington, which are still frozen by the World Bank and the US government.
About $ 9.5 billion in Afghanistan’s central bank reserves remain locked out of the country, and international aid to the previous government has dried up from the Taliban. he took power last August.
More than half of all Afghans are “severely hungry” for Guterres, and “some families are selling their children to buy food.”
UN Ambassador to China Zhang Jun cited the case of a woman who “sold two daughters and a kidney” to feed her family.
“This is a human tragedy,” he said, implicitly calling for Washington to remove “unilateral sanctions” and alleviate the freeze on Afghan goods.
The UN continues to call for “easing of sanctions” that tighten the economy and prevent the full provision of essential services, UN envoy Afghanistan Deborah Lyons told the council via a video link.
Guterres said international aid agencies and donors “need to start up the Afghan economy by increasing liquidity,” including a $ 1.2 billion fund from a frozen World Bank for Afghanistan reconstruction fund.
“Without action, lives will be lost, and despair and extremism will grow,” he said.
Earlier this month, the UN requested $ 4.4 billion in humanitarian aid to Afghanistan in 2022. On Wednesday, she said she needed $ 3.6 billion more for health and education, basic infrastructure, livelihoods and social cohesion, specifically for the needs of women and girls. .
Taliban officials have recently held talks with Western powers Oslon to address the humanitarian crisis, with Western diplomats linking humanitarian aid to Afghanistan with improved human rights.
Store, whose country is now chairing the Security Council, wanted Wednesday’s session of the 15-member body to clarify the mandate of the UN political mission in Afghanistan.
The term ends on March 17 and should be reviewed with a view to returning the Taliban to power.
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