Envoy Asks UN to Work With Sanctioned Taliban on Afghanistan

(Bloomberg) -- The United Nations will not be able to assist the Afghan people without working with the sanctioned Taliban-led government given the economy is reaching a “point of irreversibility,” the global organization's envoy to the country said.

Deborah Lyons told the UN Security Council that Afghanistan was nearing a tipping point, leading to more businesses closing and further unemployment as well as poverty. Her comments underscore the difficulties the Taliban face in running Afghanistan since sweeping into power last August in the wake of the U.S. military withdrawal.

“We do not believe that we can truly assist the Afghan people without working with the de facto authorities,” she said. “Working with the de facto authority in no way means condoning everything that it does, but this will give us the opportunity, on behalf of all of you and the rest of the international community, to help shape a future for the people of Afghanistan.”

The UN's humanitarian agencies were able to reach nearly 20 million people with some assistance in nearly all of Afghanistan's districts while bypassing the Taliban in aid delivery, Lyons said. The organization has so far provided $2 billion to address the crisis, Afghanistan central bank said last week.

Lyons said in the six months since Aug. 15 there has been a 78% decline in civilian casualties due to the reduction in conflict. The Taliban have complained that this positive achievement is getting undermined by “an undeclared economic war” that has choked the economy and worsened the suffering of the population, she added.

Afghanistan's economy has been in freefall partly because international aid, which accounted for 40% of annual GDP, was abruptly cut off and the U.S. moved to block the central bank's access to some $9 billion in overseas reserves. The UN has also warned more than half of the country's 40 million population are facing acute hunger and a million children could die of starvation.

More than a third of the Taliban cabinet members are currently sanctioned by the UN and the U.S. for their continued links to terrorism and human rights abuses. The Taliban have repeatedly urged the international community to recognize their government after they met some requirements, such as reopening schools for both girls and boys.