A family eats lunch at home in one of the poor neighbourhoods in Kabul, Afghanistan, on May 21. UN humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths has said that Afghanistan faces deepening poverty, with millions at risk of famine. Photo: AP
Opinion
Ruqiya Anwar
Ruqiya Anwar
Afghanistan needs urgent global action to avert economic, humanitarian disaster under Taliban rule
In the year since the US withdrawal, the Taliban has struggled to establish control over a war-torn country dependent on foreign aid and opium sales
The international community must restore its credibility and authority by swiftly intervening to ensure political and economic stability
The Taliban took control of Afghanistan’s capital Kabul in August 2021, completing a swift takeover of the country that shocked many around the world. With the withdrawal of American troops on August 30, 2021, the military and diplomatic evacuation of the United States ended.
Since the final US military aircraft left Afghanistan, the country has faced an uncertain future because of the Taliban’s efforts to establish control over a country torn apart by two decades of war and whose economy has long depended on foreign aid and opium sales.
Time is running out to alter the country’s course before its free fall under the Taliban becomes irreversible as the world’s attention shifts to Ukraine and elsewhere. Unfortunately, there is no magic solution for Afghanistan’s problems, and uncomfortable choices may have to be made amid strategic patience to produce any lasting results.
According to a recent International Rescue Committee report, the economic crisis that has gripped Afghanistan since August 2021 is now the main cause of food insecurity. It threatens the survival of close to 20 million Afghans who are going hungry amid the political unrest and economic catastrophe.
Although the rapidly deteriorating economy and the power vacuum left by the government’s dissolution forced the international community to take the lead in containing the crisis, the world needs to build an interconnected, two-pronged strategy.
The United Nations has issued its largest-ever humanitarian appeal for a single nation, calling for more than US$5 billion this year. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres stressed that the scale of the appeal represented the scale of Afghanistan’s despair.
Afghanistan has been at war for generations. Unless UN member states band together to stop the intra-Afghan conflict, the next generation is unlikely to experience peace. The UN has concentrated on providing urgent humanitarian aid and, to some extent, fighting terrorism, but its main responsibility is to maintain the tenuous peace.
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Poverty forces Afghan children to abandon dreams of going to school for work in order to survive
Poverty forces Afghan children to abandon dreams of going to school for work in order to survive
The argument over whether to negotiate with the Taliban must give way to how to negotiate with the Taliban. This is the only way to ease the suffering of the Afghan people. Similarly, incentives such as the unfreezing of assets, gradual sanctions relief and similar measures should compel the Taliban to demonstrate clear behavioural changes.
China can help Afghanistan through trade, loans, investment and other revenue-generating activities. The security of Central and South Asia, as well as the threat of further instability amid a possible escalation of the crisis in Afghanistan, are all major concerns for China.
Beijing’s policy towards Afghanistan has involved peripheral diplomacy. However, President Xi Jinping has said China will work to create a stable environment for its neighbours’ development. Potential Chinese investment in resource projects could eventually follow economic stabilisation. China has also urged the international community to increase its financial support for Afghanistan to avert a humanitarian catastrophe.
Most importantly, the international community must exert pressure on the Taliban to fulfil its promises on health, education and finance, as well as open schools and allow women to fully participate in society. In particular, the rights and liberties of women remain crucial. It is simply not acceptable in this day and age for a regime to exclude half the country’s population from public life.
Humanitarian aid providers should consider economic opportunities and sustainability when designing programmes to prevent dependency on aid. In addition, long-term stability largely depends on continuing training and development assistance programmes. Therefore, expanding the scope of sanctions relief to include private enterprise and commercial transactions can be an important part of resolving the economic crisis.
Additionally, to ensure minorities and women receive an equal share of aid, the international community and donors need to closely monitor distribution. Women should have access to all types of support, including food, shelter, employment and education.
Furthermore, access to the Afghan central bank’s foreign reserves must be contingent on the Central Bank Law, passed in 2003, being fully implemented, while reform of its board of governors must see the inclusion of international representatives such as International Monetary Fund officials, along with the implementation of strong independent monitoring mechanisms. The government’s future stability and performance depend on being held accountable to the Afghan people.
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Taliban opens fire to disperse Afghan women’s rally one year since regaining power
Taliban opens fire to disperse Afghan women’s rally one year since regaining power
While financial assistance might encourage business activity, political solutions will guarantee stability. Interventions to end the economic crisis will only be successful if political reforms are carried out to ensure long-term stability.
The best course of action continues to be a political process to define a plan for the nation that involves all facets of society. The Taliban must concede to political decentralisation to ensure some semblance of stability and even its own survival. Such a political process should be extensive and multifaceted.
Accomplishing these goals will undoubtedly take a great deal of effort. To have any chance of success, though, the international community must restore its credibility and authority to contribute positively to the situation. Improving internal unity and coordination is the first step. The effectiveness of external efforts also depends on cooperation with other regional states.
We have reached a critical point: the international community must step up and take economic action to protect the lives and livelihoods of innocent Afghans.
Ruqiya Anwar, a PhD scholar of media and communication studies from Pakistan, is a researcher and sociopolitical analyst focusing on the nexus between domestic and global politics and the intersection of politics and security
