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"Too often in Afghanistan's history, the country has been the battlefield of rival powers. Today it is an arena where the Afghan people are striving mightily for peace and development, and where the international community is united in its commitment to them. We cannot afford to fail in this endeavor"
Secretary General of the United Nations
Ban Ki-Moon
DanMUN 2009 will revolve around the situation in Afghanistan
Scenario
The United Nations Security Council will be summoned in order to address the need to extend the UNAMA mandate and define a comprehensive strategy for Afghanistan. While the country has made progress in certain areas, there are considerable challenges remaining on most front’s - particularly in the political, security, governance and development spheres. The deterioration of the security situation in Afghanistan is worrying, as the increase in civilian casualties has fuelled public discontent against foreign forces. The slow and uneven pace of reconstruction and development efforts, the absence of State authority throughout the country, widespread corruption and economic hardship are the challenges facing the UN-mandated International Security Assistance Force present there.
The ambition will be to establish common grounds between the members of the Council, in order to work towards a future solution to the benefit of the overall stability in Afghanistan.
Recent Key Developments
Afghans went to the polls on 20 August to choose a president and members of 34 provincial councils. These elections, organised by the Independent Election Commission of Afghanistan were the first Afghan-led elections in thirty years. (The elections in 2004 and 2005 were run by the UN). On 20 August the Council issued a press statement welcoming the “historic” presidential and provincial elections and condemning the actions of extremist groups who sought to disrupt them. The Secretary-General said that Afghans had demonstrated their desire for stability by voting and congratulated all who had made the polls possible. Eide said that the elections were an achievement for the Afghan people and that there had been less violence than expected.
The security situation in Afghanistan has continued to deteriorate during 2009 with violence at its worst since 2001. Analysts have also highlighted the increasingly sophisticated techniques and growing reach of the insurgency. In July more than seventy foreign soldiers were killed. It was the deadliest month since fighting began. Attacks escalated in the lead-up to the elections. The Taliban had vowed to disrupt the elections. However, they seemed unable to achieve the level of disruption that they had hoped. On 26 August, the Council issued a press statement condemning in the strongest terms the terrorist attack in Kandahar, which killed more than forty civilians and wounded eighty others on 25 August. The statement underlined the need to bring all those responsible to justice and reiterated the Council’s serious concern at the threats posed by extremist groups to all in Afghanistan.
In early August UNAMA released a report co-authored with the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) which revealed that insecurity had hampered candidates’ ability to campaign by limiting their movement and curbing freedom of expression. These constraints had a serious impact on the preparations for the elections, especially for women. At the end of June the UK launched a five-week operation known as “Panther’s Claw” in Helmand province, while the US marines launched an assault in lower Helmand river valley on 12 August. Both of these offensives were part of an effort to secure Taliban-dominated areas ahead of the elections. The Mid Year Bulletin on the Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict in Afghanistan, prepared by the Human Rights Unit of UNAMA and released on 30 July, reported that civilian casualties increased by 24 percent in the first half of 2009, with 59 percent of the civilians killed by anti-government elements and 30.5 percent by pro-government forces (Afghan government security and foreign troops). However, while the proportion of civilian deaths attributed to pro-government forces has declined since 2007, the actual number of such deaths continues to increase. The report noted that a high priority had been given by pro-government forces to reducing civilian deaths. On 15 July the Council adopted a presidential statement stressing that it was important for the elections to be free, fair, transparent, credible, secure and inclusive. It also expressed its support for the Secretary-General’s intention to further strengthen UNAMA and invited him to provide further details.
In order to be well prepared for the Security Council negotiations, all participants should prior to the conference seek knowledge about the vital aspects of the conflict. The following links should help you on the way:
- Report of the Secretary General, Ban Ki-Moon:
- The situation in Afghanistan and its implications for international peace and security
- Read the report here
- Statement to the Security Council by Kai Eide, Special Respresentative of the Secretary Genral for Afghanistan:
- Read the statement here
- Security Council Report update on Afghanistan - September 2009:
- Read the report here
- Regional Perspectives on the Afghan Conflict - New Approaches Towards Stabilisation
- On 4 May 2009, the EUISS brought together experts and officials from countries neighbouring Afghanistan, as well as from Turkey, India, China and the EU, in order to analyse prospects for a genuine regional strategy to stabilise Afghanistan. It considered what linkages and implications can be identified between the situation in Afghanistan and the extension of military operations to Pakistan; and to what extent mediation and reconciliation are possible within Afghanistan and neighbouring Pakistani regions.
- Download the report here.
- The International Crisis Group have published various in-depth reports on the situation in Afghanistan.
- The reports can be found here
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