Delivered by Permanent Representative Mr. Sven Jürgenson
I would like to thank the Officer in Charge of UNAMA, Ms. Ingrid Hayden for her comprehensive briefing. I would also like to thank Special Representative of the Secretary General Mr. Yamamoto for his significant work of more than five years in a very challenging environment and wish Ms. Lyons much success in her upcoming years as the new Special Representative.
Estonia commends UNAMA for its activity and engagement with national, regional and international partners to support Afghanistan on numerous fronts, particularly on the promotion of gender equality; women’s engagement in the peace process; and the inclusion of civil society. This work helps to create an environment that is conducive to the Intra-Afghan Negotiations Estonia strongly supports these efforts and is always open to options pertaining to ways that the Security Council may further assist UNAMA’s endeavors.
We are glad that the Government of Afghanistan has made first steps towards beginning the peace process. This includes the recently approved State Ministry of Peace – an independent Government entity, that also coordinates peace-related issues across all relevant ministries. The Parliament also established a Peace Committee to support peace efforts, which held its first meeting on the 14th of January.
Though the documented 10,392 civilian casualties in 2019 show a slight decrease from 2018, it is still an overwhelming number, where women and children represent 42 percent. Estonia remains deeply concerned about this high number of casualties, which attributes to the Taliban, the Afghan National Army and ISIL-KP.
In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, it is now of utmost importance to reduce violence and establish ceasefire – not only to protect the civilian population, including women and children, but to enable Afghanistan to prepare and focus on the fight against the virus.
It is important that Afghanistan minimizes the effects of the pandemic, as it could disrupt and delay the start of the Intra-Afghan Negotiations. The formation of a team for peace negotiations announced by the Afghan Government on Friday is a very positive development. Even more so, the 21-member team consists of five women, which attests to women’s participation and inclusiveness in the peace process. We regret that the Taliban has refused to cooperate with the appointed negotiating team, claiming it is not inclusive.
We stress that any effort pertaining to the peace process should not erode the fundamental rights and liberties, guaranteed by the Afghan Constitution. The political, economic and social achievements of the past 19 years, for which Afghans and the international community have made enormous sacrifices, must be retained and enhanced further.