The Situation in Afghanistan and Its Implications for International Peace and Security and Emergency International Assistance for Peace, Normalcy and Reconstruction of War-Stricken Afghanistan Resolutions

A/RES/60/32A-BView PDF

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

A Resolution of the General Assembly, under agenda items 17 Situation in Afghanistan and its implications for international peace and security and 73e Emergency international assistance for peace, normalcy and reconstruction of war-stricken Afghanistan, published in 2005.

What’s in this document?

49 operative paragraphs

A

Welcomes the report of the Secretary-General⁵ and the recommendations contained therein;

⁵A/60/224-S/2005/525.

Congratulates the people of Afghanistan on the parliamentary and provincial council elections on 18 September 2005, which have demonstrated the broad commitment of Afghan voters towards a democratic future for their country;

Expresses its appreciation for the support of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan and of the international community, including from countries neighbouring Afghanistan, which facilitated the holding of parliamentary and provincial council elections through providing security assistance, funds, election personnel and observers;

Recognizes the upcoming completion of the political transition according to the Bonn process, with the establishment of the National Assembly of Afghanistan, as well as the challenges lying ahead, and calls upon the international community to continue to provide sustained support;

Endorses the key principles for cooperation between the Government of Afghanistan and the international community during the post-Bonn process as set out in the report of the Secretary-General,⁶ including the leadership role of Afghanistan in the reconstruction process, the just allocation of domestic and international reconstruction resources across the country, regional cooperation, lasting capacity- and institution-building, combating corruption and the promotion of transparency and accountability, public information and participation, and the continued central role of the United Nations in the post-Bonn process, which should also include fields in which the United Nations offers the best expertise available;⁷

⁶Ibid., para. 77.

⁷See A/59/744-S/2005/183, para. 68.

Welcomes the readiness of the Government of Afghanistan to prepare an interim national development strategy, which is to be considered at a conference in London planned for January 2006, where a new engagement between the international community and the Government of Afghanistan is also due to be concluded, and urges the international community actively to support this process by, where possible, aligning their support behind this strategy;

Stresses the importance of the provision of sufficient security in the post-Bonn process, and to that end calls upon Member States to continue contributing personnel, equipment and other resources to the International Security Assistance Force and to further develop the provincial reconstruction teams in close coordination with the Government of Afghanistan and the Assistance Mission;

Welcomes the progress made since the commencement of the disarmament, demobilization and reintegration process in October 2003, in particular the completion of the disarmament and demobilization of the Afghan Military Forces, and stresses the need to reintegrate former combatants for the success of the programme;

Stresses the importance of advancing the disbandment of illegal armed groups throughout the country, while ensuring further coordination and coherence with other relevant efforts regarding security sector reform and community development;

Welcomes the development of the new professional Afghan national army and Afghan national police and the progress made in the creation of a fair and effective justice system as important steps towards the goal of strengthening the Government of Afghanistan, providing security, ensuring the rule of law and eliminating corruption throughout the country, and urges the international community to continue to support the efforts of the Government of Afghanistan in these areas in a coordinated manner;

Calls upon the Government of Afghanistan, with the assistance of the international community, including through the Operation Enduring Freedom coalition and the Assistance Force, in accordance with their respective designated responsibilities, to continue to address the threat to the security and stability of Afghanistan posed by Al-Qaida operatives, the Taliban and other terrorist or extremist groups as well as by criminal violence, in particular violence involving the drug trade;

Calls for full respect for human rights and international humanitarian law throughout Afghanistan and, with the assistance of the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission and of the Assistance Mission, full implementation of the human rights provisions of the new Afghan Constitution, including those regarding the full enjoyment by women of their human rights, and commends the commitment of the Government of Afghanistan in this respect;

Welcomes the efforts to date of the Afghan authorities to carry out their comprehensive counter-narcotics implementation plan presented on 16 February 2005, and urges the Government of Afghanistan to take decisive action, in particular to stop the processing of and trade in drugs, by pursuing the concrete steps set out in the work plan of the Government of Afghanistan, presented at the International Conference on Afghanistan, held in Berlin on 31 March and 1 April 2004;⁸

⁸Berlin Declaration, annex 1. Available from www.unama-afg.org.

Calls upon the international community to assist the Government of Afghanistan in carrying out its comprehensive counter-narcotics implementation plan, aimed at eliminating illicit poppy cultivation, including through support for increased law enforcement, interdiction, demand reduction, eradication of illicit crops, crop substitution and other alternative livelihood and development programmes, increasing public awareness and building the capacity of drug control institutions, and encourages the channelling of increased counter-narcotics funding through the Government of Afghanistan’s counter-narcotics trust fund;

Supports the fight against the illicit trafficking in drugs and precursors within Afghanistan and in neighbouring States and countries along trafficking routes, including increased cooperation among them to strengthen anti-narcotic controls to curb the drug flow, and welcomes, in this context, the signing on 1 April 2004 of the Berlin Declaration on Counter-Narcotics within the framework of the Kabul Declaration on Good-neighbourly Relations of 22 December 2002;⁹

⁹Berlin Declaration, annex 3. Available from www.unama-afg.org.

Commends the continuing efforts of the signatories of the Kabul Declaration on Good-neighbourly Relations¹⁰ to implement their commitments under the Declaration, including, within that framework, those under the Declaration on Encouraging Closer Trade, Transit and Investment Cooperation of 22 September 2003, and calls upon all other States to respect and support the implementation of those provisions and to promote regional stability;

¹⁰S/2002/1416, annex.

Appreciates the efforts of the members of the Tripartite Commission, namely, Afghanistan, Pakistan and the United States of America, to continue to address cross-border activities in accordance with its mandate;

Calls for the provision of continued international assistance to the vast number of Afghan refugees and internally displaced persons to facilitate their safe and orderly return and sustainable reintegration into society so as to contribute to the stability of the entire country;

Requests the Secretary-General to report to the General Assembly every six months during its sixtieth session on developments in Afghanistan, including on parliamentary and provincial elections and on consultations on the post-Bonn process as well as on the progress made in the implementation of the present resolution;

Decides to include in the provisional agenda of its sixty-first session an item entitled “The situation in Afghanistan”.

B

Welcomes the report of the Secretary-General4 and the recommendations contained therein;

Urges the Government of Afghanistan and local authorities to take all possible steps to ensure the safety, security and free movement of all United Nations, development and humanitarian personnel, as well as their safe and unhindered access to all affected populations, and to protect the property of the United Nations and of development or humanitarian organizations, including non-governmental organizations;

Strongly condemns all acts of violence and intimidation directed against development and humanitarian personnel and United Nations and associated personnel, regrets the loss of life and physical harm, and urges the Government of Afghanistan to make every effort to identify and to bring to justice the perpetrators of attacks;

Welcomes the completion of the disarmament and demobilization of child soldiers in the Afghan Military Forces, stresses the importance of the reintegration of child soldiers and of care for other war-affected children, commends the Government of Afghanistan for its efforts in this regard, and encourages continued efforts in cooperation with the United Nations;

Expresses its concern about the recruitment and use of child soldiers by illegal armed groups in Afghanistan, reiterates the importance of ending the use of children contrary to international law, and welcomes the accession by Afghanistan to the Convention on the Rights of the Child¹¹ and the two optional protocols thereto;¹²

¹¹United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 1577, No. 27531.

¹²Resolution 54/263, annexes I and II.

Reiterates the necessity of providing Afghan children with educational and health facilities in all parts of the country, recognizing the special needs of girls, and encourages the Government of Afghanistan, with the assistance of the international community, to expand those facilities and to promote full and equal access to them by all members of Afghan society;

Welcomes the initiative of the Government of Afghanistan to formulate a national plan of action on combating child trafficking, encourages the Government to formulate the plan of action guided by the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime,¹³ and stresses the importance of considering becoming a party to the Protocol;

¹³Resolution 55/25, annex II.

Calls for the full respect of the human rights and fundamental freedoms of all, without discrimination of any kind, including on the basis of gender, ethnicity or religion, in accordance with obligations under the Afghan Constitution and international law;

Stresses the need to ensure respect for the right to freedom of expression and the right to freedom of thought, conscience or belief;

Continues to emphasize the necessity of investigating allegations of current and past violations of human rights and of international humanitarian law, including violations committed against persons belonging to ethnic and religious minorities, as well as against women and girls, of facilitating the provision of efficient and effective remedies to the victims and of bringing the perpetrators to justice in accordance with international law;

Reiterates the important role of the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission in the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms, and stresses the need to expand its range of operation in all parts of Afghanistan in accordance with the Afghan Constitution; welcomes the adoption by the Government of Afghanistan of key elements of the transitional justice action plan, and stresses the importance of judicial accountability of human rights offenders in accordance with international law;

Stresses once again the need for further progress on judicial reform in Afghanistan, and urges the Government of Afghanistan and the international community to devote resources also to the reconstruction and reform of the prison sector in order to improve respect for the rule of law and for human rights therein, while reducing physical and mental health risks to inmates;

Recalls Security Council resolution 1325 (2000) of 31 October 2000 on women and peace and security, commends the efforts of the Government of Afghanistan to mainstream gender issues and to protect and promote the equal rights of women and men as guaranteed, inter alia, by virtue of its ratification of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women,¹⁴ and by the Afghan Constitution, welcomes the level of participation of Afghan women in the recent parliamentary and provincial council elections, including the election of female candidates to these bodies, and reiterates the continued importance of the full and equal participation of women in all spheres of Afghan life;

¹⁴United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 1249, No. 20378.

Strongly condemns incidents of discrimination and violence against women and girls, welcomes the significant efforts by the Government of Afghanistan to counter discrimination, urges the Government to actively involve all elements of Afghan society, in particular women, in the development and implementation of relief, rehabilitation, recovery and reconstruction programmes, and encourages the collection and use of statistical data on a sex-disaggregated basis to accurately track the progress of the full integration of women into the political, economic and social life of Afghanistan;

Notes with concern that opium poppy cultivation and the related drug production and trafficking pose a serious threat to security, the rule of law and development in Afghanistan, and urges the Government of Afghanistan, supported by the international community, to work to mainstream counter-narcotics throughout all the national programmes; welcomes, in this context, the decrease in opium cultivation, commends the efforts of the Government of Afghanistan in this regard, and further urges it to increase its efforts against opium cultivation;

Urges in particular the Government of Afghanistan, in cooperation with the international community, to implement its comprehensive counter-narcotics implementation plan, aimed at eliminating illicit poppy cultivation, supporting increased law enforcement, interdiction, demand reduction, eradication of illicit crops, crop substitution and other alternative livelihood and development programmes, increasing public awareness and building the capacity of drug control institutions, and to promote the development of sustainable livelihoods in the formal production sector as well as other sectors, thus improving substantially the lives, health and security of the people, particularly in rural areas;

Expresses its appreciation to those Governments that continue to host Afghan refugees, acknowledging the huge burden they have so far shouldered in this regard, and reminds them of their obligations under international refugee law with respect to the protection of refugees, the principle of voluntary return and the right to seek asylum and to allow international access for their protection and care;

Urges the Government of Afghanistan, acting with the support of the international community, to continue and strengthen its efforts to create the conditions for the voluntary, safe, dignified and sustainable return and reintegration of the remaining Afghan refugees and internally displaced persons;

Calls for the provision of continued international assistance to the large numbers of Afghan refugees and internally displaced persons to facilitate their voluntary, safe and orderly return;

Urges the Government of Afghanistan to meet its responsibilities under the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-personnel Mines and on Their Destruction,¹⁵ to cooperate fully with the mine action programme coordinated by the United Nations, and to execute the destruction of all existing stocks of anti-personnel landmines;

¹⁵Ibid., vol. 2056, No. 35597.

Endorses the key principles for cooperation between the Government of Afghanistan and the international community during the post-Bonn process as set out in the report of the Secretary-General,5 including the leadership role of Afghanistan in the reconstruction process, the just allocation of domestic and international reconstruction resources across the country, regional cooperation, lasting capacity- and institution-building, combating corruption and the promotion of transparency and accountability, public information and participation, and the continued central role of the United Nations in the post-Bonn process, which should also include fields in which the United Nations offers the best expertise available;6

Invites all States and intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations providing assistance to Afghanistan to focus on capacity-building and institution-building and to ensure that such work complements and contributes to the development of an economy characterized by sound macroeconomic policies, the development of a financial sector that provides services, inter alia, to microenterprises, small and medium-sized enterprises and households, transparent business regulations and accountability;

Urges the Government of Afghanistan to continue to effectively reform the public administration sector in order to implement the rule of law, to ensure good governance and accountability at both national and local levels and to lead the fight against corruption;

Also urges the Government of Afghanistan to address, with the assistance of the international community, the question of claims for land property through a comprehensive land titling programme, including formal registration of all property and improved security for property rights, and welcomes the steps already taken by the Government of Afghanistan in this regard;

Urges the international community to channel assistance through the national budget, including by contributing to the Afghanistan Reconstruction Trust Fund and the Law and Order Trust Fund, and to generously support the national priority programmes of the Government of Afghanistan in order to strengthen ownership, transparency and the functioning of basic State institutions;

Urgently appeals to all States, the United Nations system and international and non-governmental organizations to continue to provide, in close coordination with the Government of Afghanistan and in accordance with its national development strategy, all possible and necessary humanitarian, recovery, reconstruction, financial, technical and material assistance for Afghanistan;

Emphasizes the need to maintain, strengthen and review civil-military relations among international actors, as appropriate, at all levels in order to ensure complementarity of action based on the different mandates and comparative advantages of the humanitarian, development, law enforcement and military actors present in Afghanistan;

Decides to include in the provisional agenda of its sixty-first session an item entitled “The situation in Afghanistan”.

The Situation in Afghanistan and Its Implications for International Peace and Security and Emergency International Assistance for Peace, Normalcy and Reconstruction of War-Stricken Afghanistan Resolutions

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

What subjects does this mandate have?

What’s in this document?

A

B

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