New UN mission established.

• Author: Rutsch, Horst
• Position: Peacewatch: Afghanistan

The Security Council on 28 March voted unanimously to establish the UN Assistance Mission for Afghanistan (UNAMA), endorsing the mandate and structure laid out by Secretary-General Kofi Annan. Set up with immediate effect for an initial twelve-month period, the Mission's mandate is to fulfil all tasks, including human rights, the rule of law, and gender issues, that were entrusted to the United Nations under the Bonn Agreement, which paved the way for the country's political transition. UNAMA will also seek to promote national reconciliation, while managing all UN humanitarian activities in Afghanistan in coordination with the Afghan Interim Authority and successor administrations. The Council called on all Afghan parties to cooperate with UNAMA in the implementation of its mandate and ensure the security and freedom of movement of its staff throughout the country.

UNAMA will be comprised of two "pillars--one for political affairs, and the other for relief and reconstruction. Human rights will be central to the new Mission, as it fulfils the provisions of the Bonn Agreement directly related to human rights and as it seeks to fully integrate human rights into its humanitarian, reconstruction and political activities, including the rule of law and national capacity-building. Noting that Afghanistan was a "shattered society" and that it would take "much more than 36 months to heal the wounds left by 23 years of war", the Secretary-General stressed that to ensure the Afghans themselves benefit most from the international presence, UNAMA should employ as many local staff as possible, "thereby leaving a light expatriate 'footprint'."

On 6 March, Mr. Annan named lean Arnault of France as his Deputy Special Representative for Afghanistan responsible for political matters. He is the head of the political pillar of UNAMA, while Nigel Fisher heads the humanitarian and developmental pillar.

In setting up the Mission, the Council also reaffirmed its support for the Secretary-General's Special Representative, Lakhdar Brahimi, and endorsed his "full authority" over all United Nations activities in Afghanistan. Stressing that the provision of focused recovery and reconstruction assistance would serve to promote the implementation of the Bonn Agreement, the Council urged bilateral and multilateral donors to coordinate their activities and provide aid through the Afghanistan Interim Administration and its successors, and in close coordination with Mr...