United Nations (UN) chief Antonio Guterres said that the international community must engage with the Taliban to ‘avert a total collapse of Afghanistan’s economy’.
“It is impossible to provide humanitarian assistance inside Afghanistan without engaging with the de facto authorities,” Guterres told reporters on the sidelines of a donor conference. He further added that it was “very important to engage with the Taliban at the present moment,” he was quoted as saying by news agency AFP.
At the event, Guterres urged countries to provide aid to Afghans whose human rights could be violated under the Taliban rule.
$20 million from UN’s Central Emergency Response Fund for Afghanistan
“After decades of war, suffering and insecurity, they face perhaps their most perilous hour… Let us be clear: This conference is not simply about what we will give to the people of Afghanistan. It is about what we owe,” he said while announcing a $20 million allocation from the UN’s Central Emergency Response Fund to humanitarian assistance in Afghanistan.
Guterres further added that funding, humanitarian access, rights of women and girls in Afghanistan were the key to extending a helping hand to Afghans.
Guterres’ call for engaging with the Taliban comes at a time when the world community is divided over recognising the newly installed government in Afghanistan. While the US government is under a pressure from the opposition to ‘not recognise’ the Taliban, India too has not clarified its stand on the legitimacy it imparts to the Taliban government. The Taliban regime has been recognised by China, which has vehemently stressed that it is willing to talk to the new government in Afghanistan.
