The Taliban takeover of Afghanistan enters its sixth month this February. It is necessary to assess the impact of international organisations in Afghanistan and examine their effectiveness in addressing the humanitarian and political problems in the country. It would appear that while international organisations have made a noticeable impact in the humanitarian field, they have been less so in the political area, leaving much to be done.
Why look at international organisations in particular? Because these are considered the foundational pillars of the post-war liberal international order, credited with many benefits. Advocates point out that they help resolve disputes peacefully by facilitating the negotiation and implementation of agreements, addressing problems emerging from misinformation and uncertainty of intentions, and granting legitimacy to action. Their perceived neutrality makes them especially useful for peacekeeping, arbitration, intervention, mediation, allocation of resources, and promoting welfare.
When it comes to Afghanistan, assessing the import of international organisations is a particularly fruitful area of inquiry. Afghanistan currently holds membership in about 50 international organisations. More importantly, the country is heavily dependent on international aid flowing through international organisations, potentially providing the latter with significant leverage to influence policy decisions. Exploring the role of international organisations in Afghanistan in the past six months under the Taliban can reveal their promise for the future.
The scale of the humanitarian disaster unfolding in Afghanistan has left over 55% of its population in dire need of food and pushed almost 97% of its people to the brink of poverty. The reason is a combination of the Taliban’s conduct, continuing conflict, cold weather, drought, and the current pandemic. For this to be urgently resolved with humanitarian assistance, the centrality of the UN becomes immediately apparent. The special United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) and other UN agencies have been at the forefront of humanitarian efforts in Afghanistan for two decades. In January this year, the UN launched the most extensive single-country appeal for $5 billion in aid for Afghanistan. Other global organisations, including the IMF and the World Bank, and regional organisations, including the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, have pledged aid. Such help is indispensable to prevent a complete economic collapse of the country, exacerbated by the Taliban’s lack of governing capacity and the freezing of Afghan assets by the US to prevent the Taliban from gaining access to the country’s economic resources. The recent UNSC Resolution[1] passed on 22 December tried to find a working solution around the issue by providing for a humanitarian exemption to the existing sanctions imposed on the Taliban regime.
Beyond the provision of emergency humanitarian aid, international organisations have largely failed to address the urgent other humanitarian concerns that need redressal in Afghanistan. Despite international appeals, the Taliban is yet to form a representative government and stop the spate of extra-judicial killings, unlawful detentions, and repression against anti-regime activists. Women have been the worst victims: secondary education remains unavailable to girls, women have been removed from work in public offices, and a recent decree imposed stricter restrictions on women’s travel. In January, Human Rights Watch[2] reported that the Taliban regime had deprived women of their livelihood and identity.
The UN has yet to decide if it should concede to the Taliban’s request to change the state’s official flag and name from the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan to the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, and what to do about the latest dispute regarding Afghanistan’s official representative to the UN after the resignation of Ghulam Muhammad Isaczai, who was appointed by the previous regime. Although some breakthroughs on sanctions have previously been made via exceptions enacted by the Security Council’s 1988 Sanctions Committee and more recently through UNSC Resolution 2615 (22 December 2021) to skirt around the issue, these are far from sustainable solutions.
The record of regional international organisations has not been much better. Handicapped by their member states’ divergent interests in Afghanistan, most regional organisations have promised humanitarian help and made vague proclamations about their intentions. The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation’s (OIC) 17th extraordinary session of the Council of Foreign Ministers held its meeting in December last year, culminating in a plan for a fund to promote humanitarian aid to Afghanistan through the Islamic Development Bank (IDB). But except for providing humanitarian help, precious little has been done by the OIC. Despite the Taliban’s plea to Muslim states to recognize its regime, none have obliged so far.
Within the BRICS group, three of the five members – India, Russia, and China – are deeply interested in Afghanistan. But the wide chasm on Afghanistan among this trio meant that the 13th BRICS summit held virtually in September 2021 could only speak of terrorism in broad terms without mentioning the Taliban by name. The Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) is another organisation relevant to the region. Counting most states along the Indian Ocean as its members, the organisation has the potential to engage with Afghanistan on economic and social development, disaster risk management, and maritime security. The absence of Pakistan and China, along with the recent inclusion of Russia as a formal dialogue partner, should enable it to work together in Afghanistan. Yet the 21st annual meeting of the IORA Council of Ministers in November 2021 and the resultant Dhaka Communique[3] barely even mentioned Afghanistan, focusing instead on platitudes like inclusive development and post-pandemic economic recovery – phrases more suitable to a normal, functioning state rather than one in massive upheaval.
With the most critical stakeholders to the conflict remaining deeply divided on their stance on Afghanistan, the country remains in a state of deadlock. It is time to try bilateral efforts, rather than multilateral options, to urgently resolve the man-made tragedy that is Afghanistan.
Kasturi Chatterjee is Assistant Professor of International Studies, FLAME University.
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References:
[1] United Nations Security Council (UNSC), Resolution 2615 (22 December 2021), S/RES/2615 (2021), [URL: https://www.securitycouncilreport.org/atf/cf/%7B65BFCF9B-6D27-4E9C-8CD3-CF6E4FF96FF9%7D/S_RES_2615(2021)_E.pdf]
[2] Human Rights Watch (18 January 2022), “Afghanistan: Taliban Deprive Women of Livelihoods, Identity”, [URL: https://www.hrw.org/news/2022/01/18/afghanistan-taliban-deprive-women-livelihoods-identity]
[3] Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA), “The Dhaka Communique (17 November 2021)”, IORA: The 21st Meeting of the Council of Ministers, [URL: https://mofa.portal.gov.bd/sites/default/files/files/mofa.portal.gov.bd/page/8846c44d_cbe6_4d2d_ac1b_ae05db4926f6/Final%20Dhaka%20Communique%20%20of%20IORA.pdf]