Ms. Lisa Doughten, Director of Financing and Partnerships at UNOCHA, on behalf of Mr. Martin Griffiths, USG for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator - Briefing to the Security Council on the situation in Afghanistan, 21 June 2024

AS DELIVERED

Thank you, Mr. President,
Humanitarian needs in Afghanistan remain alarmingly high.

More than 50 per cent of the population – some 23.7 million people – require humanitarian assistance this year, the third highest number of people in need in the world.

Half the population lives in poverty. One in four Afghans are uncertain where their next meal will come from. Nearly three million children are experiencing acute levels of hunger.

Since 15 September, more than 618,000 Afghans have returned from Pakistan – almost 80 per cent are women and children – and many of them need humanitarian assistance.

The particularly acute effects of climate change in Afghanistan are deepening the humanitarian crisis.

Extreme weather events are more frequent and more intense. Some areas in Afghanistan have warmed at twice the global average since 1950. Decreasing rainfall and recurring drought-like conditions have contributed to a large-scale water crisis. Annual droughts are now predicted to be the norm by 2030. The likelihood of flash flooding has also increased, even when rainfall is not especially heavy.

In April and May, almost 120,000 people were affected by flash flooding and mudslides, primarily in Afghanistan's northern, northeastern, and western regions. Entire villages were destroyed, and more than 340 people were killed. Livestock and tens of thousands of acres of agricultural land were also lost.

Afghanistan remains wholly unprepared to deal with these increasingly persistent threats and will require significant investments in early warning and early response systems.

Efforts are already underway to establish anticipatory action programmes to trigger support ahead of predicted climate events, but these will need to be sufficiently staffed and funded to bear fruit.

Mr. President,

Afghanistan will soon enter its fourth year under the Taliban de-facto authority. No one has felt the impact more profoundly than women and girls. Decrees limiting their movement and participation in public life have left no part of their lives unaffected.

It has been more than 1,000 days since girls over the age of 11 were banned from attending secondary school. This is equivalent to the amount of time needed to obtain a university degree, a warning of an inconceivable future without Afghan women doctors, teachers or engineers.

The ban on girls' education is fueling an increase in child marriage and early childbearing, with dire physical, emotional, and economic consequences. Reports of attempted suicides among women and girls are also increasing.

Despite restrictions on the ability to work, as well as the risk to their personal safety, Afghan women continue to participate in the humanitarian response. According to a March 2024 survey on the operational impact of the ban, 72 per cent of respondent organizations are either partially or fully operating with both women and men. Half of respondent organizations have been able to secure localized arrangements to allow the involvement of Afghan women staff in field activities – up from 41 per cent in July 2023.

Mr. President,

This is OCHA’s fifth briefing to the Council since the adoption of the ‘humanitarian exception’ in Security Council Resolution 2615.

The resolution continues to play a critical role in enabling life-saving humanitarian action, which last year allowed some 28 million people – more than 60 per cent of the population – to receive assistance.

The humanitarian exception covers important eligible expenditures which are necessary to deliver that assistance. This includes:

  • Rent on state-owned premises and warehouses;
  • Withholding tax on national/international NGO staff income, rent and suppliers;
  • Visas and work permits for national and international NGO staff;
  • Fees for imports;
  • Utilities such as water and electricity;
  • Licenses for NGO registration, communications equipment and municipal charges; and
  • The payment of programme implementation costs, for example per diems for transportation and lunch for awareness raising, training sessions and monitoring missions.

Recipient line ministries and departments include the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Economy, the Ministry of Interior, the Ministry of Water & Energy, the Customs and Revenue Department and the Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation, among others.

The nature and modality of payments made under the exception have not changed in the last three years. Indeed, they are identical to those made under the pre-August 2021 administration of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan. For example, customs charges remain at around US $23 per container or shipment, a rate that has not changed since the time of the Republic.

All payments made under the exception constitute predictable, budgeted operational costs necessary to maintain the humanitarian response in Afghanistan. As payments necessary to ensure the delivery of humanitarian assistance and other activities that support basic human needs, they are expressly allowed under resolution 2615. They are in line with payments we make in every humanitarian operation globally.

Mr. President,

Resolution 2615 has also helped to reduce difficulties with processing payments and transferring funds into Afghanistan for these humanitarian purposes. The number of reported issues with financial transactions by UN agencies and NGOs has dropped from 87 per cent in November 2021 to 40 per cent in June 2024. The use of Hawalas to transfer funds has consequently dropped from 68 per cent in November 2021 to 32 per cent in June 2024.

Yet challenges remain. Our partners report ongoing limitations on both the transfer and withdrawal of funds, as well as delays in transferring funds. Some 18 per cent reported having a financial transaction to Afghanistan refused.

These challenges continue to affect the humanitarian response, with agencies having to delay project implementation, suspend programmes, or assist fewer beneficiaries.

Mr. President,
We continue to strengthen and expand risk management procedures in Afghanistan.

The Contractor Information Management System (CIMS) that we referred to in December’s Council meeting is now up and running.

This system facilitates information sharing on the partners, contractors, and other providers of goods and services used by various UN Agencies in Afghanistan. It aims to minimize duplication of efforts and provide a quick reference source on new contractors. It allows contractors and service providers acting contrary to the UN Code of Conduct to be blacklisted. Importantly, UN Agencies are able to share data and information on partners and other contractors before they are engaged.

Humanitarian organisations also make every effort to ensure that aid reaches its intended beneficiaries.

Steps are taken at various stages in the assessment, planning, distribution, and monitoring phases of operations.

These include, but are not limited to:

  • Direct monitoring and third-party monitoring to correlate reported performance delivery with actual outputs and reported expenditures.
  • On-site financial verifications on segregation of duties, accounting procedures, cash management, procurement and contracts, personnel contracts, internal monitoring, fraud prevention, and test complaint and feedback mechanisms.
  • In-person and desk reviews to check the accuracy of financial reports, as well as review partner general ledger data and bank reconciliations.

Humanitarian actors are also benefiting and contributing to the robust risk management system in place.

Mr. President,

Despite the many challenges, 9.9 million people in Afghanistan received at least one form of assistance from January to March 2024.

However, six months into this year we have received just US $649 million – or 21 per cent of the $3 billion required to meet the huge levels of humanitarian need.

Life-saving programmes have had to close due to the lack of funds, including 150 mobile health and nutrition teams. A further 40 teams are at imminent risk, potentially depriving 700,000 children under five of vital nutrition treatment services for severe acute malnutrition.

The lack of funds is also imperiling the last two mine clearance and a mine victims’ assistance programme in Afghanistan. These programmes will cease in the coming month if additional funds are not received. This is at a time when 3.4 million people live within 1km of explosive ordinance contamination, including 475 schools and 230 healthcare facilities.

I could go on, Mr. President, but the list of programmes on the verge of shutting down is simply too long. Council members will find the full list in the recently published Critical Funding Gaps analysis.

Mr. President,

Afghans continue to feel the compounding effects of climate change, poverty and oppression.

Millions of people depend on humanitarian assistance for their everyday survival. We urge donors to fully fund the appeal for Afghanistan so we can continue to provide this life-saving support.

But there is a risk of a slide into even greater hardship. We must also find ways to support the Afghan people with longer-term solutions to help lift them out of poverty and withstand a deepening set of climate-related shocks.

Nothing is easy in Afghanistan, but with sustained assistance, we can support people in the realization of a life with peace, stability and hope.

Thank you, Mr. President.