Modern history

The Afghan nation began to emerge in the late eighteenth century. It was ruled, with brief interruptions, by a succession of monarchs whose consolidation of power was constantly undermined by civil wars and foreign invasions. The current borders of Afghanistan were delineated in the nineteenth century, as a result of the "great game" rivalry between Russia and Britain. Britain exerted some influence over Afghan foreign policy from the late nineteenth century until the Third Anglo-Afghan War in 1919. Afghanistan joined the UN in 1946.

In 1973, King Zahir Shah was overthrown in a coup by his cousin and former Prime Minister, Muhammad Daud. Daud declared Afghanistan a republic, with himself as president, and the King went into exile in Italy.

Daud's government, however, was opposed by both the leftist People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) and traditional ethnic leaders. In April 1978, leftist military officers overthrew and killed Daud and PDPA leader Noor Muhammad Taraki became President.

Late in 1978, Islamic traditionalists and ethnic leaders began an armed revolt, and by the summer of 1979 they controlled much of Afghanistan's rural areas. In September, Taraki was deposed and later killed. He was replaced by his deputy, Hafizullah Amin, but Amin also failed to suppress the rebellion, and the government's position weakened. On 25 December 1979, Soviet forces entered Afghanistan, and took control of Kabul. Babrak Karmal, leader of a less hard-line faction of the PDPA, became President. Karmal adopted more open policies towards religion and ethnicity. However, the rebellion intensified.

The 1980s

Early in 1980, the Security Council met to consider a response to the Soviet intervention, but a draft resolution condemning it was not passed, due to the negative vote of the USSR.

The matter was then taken up in the General Assembly, which held an Emergency Special Session on Afghanistan over five days, from 10 to 14 January 1980. The Assembly adopted the first of a series of 'Situation in Afghanistan' resolutions (resolution ES-6/2), in which it deplored the armed intervention in Afghanistan, called for the withdrawal of all foreign forces, asked States to contribute humanitarian assistance, and asked the Secretary-General to keep it informed of developments.

Various approaches to the parties were made with a view to finding a means to end the conflict, but war continued. Its effects were devastating. During the next few years about 3 million refugees fled to Pakistan and 1.5 million to Iran. Many people were also driven from the countryside to Kabul, and in total more than half of the population was displaced. Estimates of combat fatalities range between 700,000 and 1.3 million people. With the school system largely destroyed, industrialization severely restricted and large irrigation projects badly damaged, the economy of the country was crippled.

The Assembly maintained its focus on Afghanistan throughout the 1980s, adopting a series of resolutions which called for an end to the conflict, withdrawal of foreign troops, UN assistance to find a political settlement and international help for refugees and others affected by the conflict (see box 2).

In 1985, the General Assembly also began a separate consideration of the human rights
situation in Afghanistan. This followed receipt of the first report from a newly appointed Special Rapporteur on human rights in that country. The first in what was to become an annual resolution on human rights and fundamental freedoms in Afghanistan was adopted on 13 December (resolution 40/137). In it, the Assembly expressed its profound concern about widespread disregard for human rights and large-scale violations. It also expressed concern at the severe consequences for the civilian population of indiscriminate bombardments and military operations aimed primarily at villages and the agricultural structure.

In May 1986, Karmal was replaced as PDPA leader by Mohammad Najibullah, who subsequently became President in November 1987.

Following the exercise of the UN Secretary-General's good offices, Afghanistan, Pakistan, the USSR and the United States signed Agreements on the Settlement of the Situation Relating to Afghanistan under United Nations auspices in May 1987. These provided for an end to foreign intervention in Afghanistan, and the USSR began withdrawing its forces. With the Security Council's authorization in resolution 622 (1988) of 31 October 1988, Secretary-General Javier Perez de Cuellar set up a mission to monitor the withdrawal of foreign forces - the United Nations Good Offices Mission in Afghanistan and Pakistan (UNGOMAP) - and made plans to support the anticipated repatriation of refugees. The Soviet withdrawal was completed in February 1989.The rebels, however, who had not signed the agreements, maintained their fight against Najibullah's government and the civil war continued.

Following the May 1987 agreement, the UN had begun strenuous efforts to coordinate humanitarian assistance. Afghanistan had long been designated by the UN as one of the world's least developed countries and war only made it more difficult to respond to the challenge of reconstruction and development. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) estimated that the area under agricultural cultivation in Afghanistan fell by 40 per cent between 1979 and 1991.

In 1989, under the guidance of the Secretary-General's newly-appointed Coordinator for United Nations Humanitarian and Economic Assistance Programmes, a plan of action was developed jointly by United Nations agencies and programmes, including the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), the UN Development Programme (UNDP), the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the World Food Programme (WFP).

The 1990s

In 1991, responsibility for Operation Salam - the UN's emergency relief programme for Afghanistan - was taken over by the Secretary-General's Personal Representative at the time, Benon Sevan. In that year, WFP provided 60,000 metric tons of food to needy Afghans, while FAO provided 6,800 tons of seed and more than half a million fruit and poplar saplings.

Agricultural assistance, food aid, public and maternal health services and economic recovery programmes were initiated with resources provided to the United Nations by the international community. But other programmes that had been planned - to repair infrastructure, provide shelter and discourage narcotics production - had to be shelved because of insufficient funds.

As civil war between various factions continued following the Soviet withdrawal, the number of civilians fleeing the country increased steadily, making Afghanistan the world's worst refugee crisis. By 1990, there were 6.3 million civilians in exile -3.3 million in Pakistan and 3 million in Iran. In addition to setting up a voluntary repatriation project, UNHCR established more than 300 villages in Pakistan for the mainly ethnic Pashtun refugees. In Iran, the mostly ethnic Tajiks, Uzbeks and Hazaras lived and found work in local communities.

In 1992, fighting intensified, making the aid effort more difficult. Rebel forces closed in on Kabul and the Najibullah government fell. On 24 April 1992, leaders of the mujaheddin (guerilla) forces except one (Gulbuddin Hekmatyar) agreed to form a government under Sigbatullah Mojaddedi. According to the agreement, Mojaddedi would head a Transitional Council for two months. He would then be replaced by a Leadership Council -- to last four months -- that would be headed by Burhannudin Rabbani.

Rabbani was declared President of the Islamic State in Afghanistan in July 1992. According to the agreement (called the Peshawar Accord) he should have relinquished power in October, but didn't. By that time, Massoud, Rabbani's Defence Minister, and Hekmatyar were engaged in armed confrontation in Kabul--which had largely been spared during the Soviet occupation.

The General Assembly's annual assessment of the situation - summarized in a resolution on emergency international assistance for the reconstruction of Afghanistan (resolution 47/119 of 18 December) - noted that establishment of the Islamic State provided a new opportunity for reconstruction, welcomed the Secretary-General's efforts to draw attention to mobilizing assistance for rehabilitation and reconstruction, and sought funds for an emergency trust fund to support that rehabilitation.

In 1993, two peace accords were negotiated between President Rabbani and eight other Afghan leaders - in Islamabad on 7 March and in Jalalabad on 18 May. In these accords, the leaders agreed to form a government for 18 months, to set in motion an electoral process, to formulate a constitution, and to establish a defence council to set up a national army. In his annual report issued in September, the Secretary-General observed that although the accords were encouraging, they had neither resolved the problems of the government nor removed the threat of renewed fighting around Kabul.

In December 1993, at the request of the General Assembly, the Secretary-General established the United Nations Special Mission to Afghanistan (UNSMA) to canvass a broad spectrum of Afghan leaders and solicit their views on how the UN could best help with national reconciliation and reconstruction. Meanwhile, the movement of civilians mirrored the ebb and flow of battlefield realities, with many refugees returning to peaceful parts of the country. In 1992, more than 1.2 million returned home from Pakistan.

However, despite all these positive developments, Kabul was soon besieged again: first by various mujaheddin factions, and then by the Taliban - a movement with its foundations in Kandahar. The Taliban were mostly sons and orphans of mujaheddin, who had been raised in refugee camps in Pakistan and were opposed to what they saw as the corruption of the mujaheddin. This round of fighting led once more to the displacement of populations, with some 350,000 people fleeing the Kabul region for camps near Jalalabad, bringing the total of internally displaced people dependent on the UN for food and sustenance to 800,000. By 1994, there were an additional 700,000 Afghan refugees, living mostly in camps in Pakistan and Iran.

In 1994, the first of a series of annual consolidated appeals to aid Afghanistan was launched. The appeals detailed the emergency needs of Afghan people and asked for funds to enable non-governmental and UN agencies to address those needs. This first appeal had some success, with donors supplying 75 per cent of the funds requested. Rehabilitation projects focussed on human development and poverty alleviation in rural communities. High quality seed was distributed to farmers - yielding some 80,000 tons of grain - while some 125,000 hectares of land were irrigated and over 8,000 hectares of orchards rehabilitated.

From 1995, however, the annual consolidated appeals were less successful in raising the necessary funds. The 1995-1996 appeal, for example, raised only 50 per cent of the amount deemed urgent - of which practically nothing was available for crucial infrastructure repairs. However, the absence of conflict in some parts of the country made it possible to reopen some roads, allowing greater aid distribution by the United Nations and aid agencies.

From January to June 1995, WFP distributed more than 53,000 tons of food aid, while the UN Centre for Human Settlements helped some 10,000 families rebuild their homes. During a health campaign in 1995, nearly 2.4 million children under five years of age were immunized against polio and more than 80,000 under two years old were inoculated against measles.

The Taliban takes Kabul

Meanwhile, the Taliban rebellion was growing in strength. In late 1994 and early 1995, the rebels took control of much of southern and western Afghanistan, including Kandahar and Herat. In a presidential statement on 15 February 1996, the Security Council expressed concern about intensified hostilities around the capital city of Kabul, which prevented deliveries of humanitarian aid. It was also deeply concerned that the continuing conflict provided fertile ground for terrorism, arms transfers and drug trafficking, which destabilized the whole region and beyond.

In September, the Taliban took Kabul. Rabbani joined an opposition alliance, the United Islamic Front for the Salvation of Afghanistan (the United Front or the Northern Alliance). The Taliban soon controlled much of Afghanistan, with the Alliance holding territory only in the north.

On 22 October, the Security Council adopted resolution 1076 (1996), calling on all Afghan parties to end hostilities and engage in a political dialogue aimed at achieving national reconciliation. It repeated its deep concern that the conflict provided fertile ground for terrorism and drug trafficking and called on the parties to halt such activities. The General Assembly, along with the Council, condemned the abduction from United Nations premises in Kabul of former President Najibullah and his brother on 26 September, and their subsequent brutal execution by the Taliban (Assembly resolution 51/108, Council statement S/PRST/1996/40). Najibullah had taken refuge there four years earlier, but repeated calls by the Secretary-General
to allow his safe departure from the country had been ignored.

Fighting continued between the Taliban and Northern Alliance groups between 1997 and 2000, but military positions changed little. In July of 1997, the Secretary-General appointed Lakhdar Brahimi, the former Foreign Minister of Algeria, as his Special Envoy for Afghanistan, to consult with interested and relevant countries and parties and make recommendations on UN peacemaking activities there. He visited Afghanistan as part of a 13-nation tour and in October, with the Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs, convened a series of informal meetings with what became known as the "Six plus Two" group - composed of the six States bordering Afghanistan (China, Iran, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan) plus the United States and Russia.

In April 1998, through a presidential statement, the Security Council noted the increasingly ethnic nature of the conflict, and reports of ethnicity-based persecution. It also deplored the continued supply of war-making materials to the factions from foreign sources, warning that a resumption of large-scale fighting would seriously undermine efforts towards a political solution. In July, the Council raised concerns at reports of harassment of humanitarian organizations and at a decision by the Taliban to insist on the relocation of all humanitarian organizations' offices to a single location in Kabul. It also expressed deep concern at continuing discrimination against girls and women.

Following the 7 August terrorist bomb attacks on United States embassies in Nairobi, Kenya, and Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania, which claimed hundreds of lives, the Council adopted resolution 1193 (1998) on 28 August, which repeated its concern at the continuing presence of terrorists in the territory of Afghanistan. It condemned attacks on UN personnel in Taliban-held areas, including the killing of two Afghan staff members of the World Food Programme and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees in Jalalabad, and of the Military Adviser to UNSMA in Kabul. It also condemned the capture of the Consulate-General of Iran in Mazar-e-Sharif. On 8 December, by resolution 1214 (1998), the Council demanded that the Taliban stop providing sanctuary and training for international terrorists and their organizations and that all Afghan factions cooperate in bringing indicted terrorists to justice.

On 15 October 1999, citing the failure of the Taliban authorities to respond to this demand, the Council applied broad sanctions under the enforcement provisions of the UN Charter. In resolution 1267 (1999), it noted that Usama bin Laden had been indicted by the United States for the August 1998 embassy bombings and demanded that the Taliban faction - never recognized as Afghanistan's legitimate government - turn him over to the appropriate authorities to be brought to justice. The sanctions, imposed on 14 November following non-compliance, included the freezing by States of all funds and other financial resources owned or controlled by the Taliban.

In a statement on 22 October, the Security Council also expressed deep distress over reports of involvement in the fighting, on the Taliban side, of thousands of non-Afghan nationals, some of whom were below the age of 14. It expressed grave concern at the seriously deteriorating humanitarian situation and deplored the worsening human rights situation - including forced displacements of civilian populations, summary executions, abuse and arbitrary detention of civilians, violence against women and girls, and indiscriminate bombing. The capture of Iran's Consulate-General in Mazar-e-Sharif was described as a flagrant violation of international law, along with the murder there of Iranian diplomats and a journalist. Deeply disturbed by a significant increase in the cultivation, production and trafficking of drugs, especially in Taliban-controlled areas, it demanded that such illegal activities be halted.

By the late 1990s, Afghanistan had become notorious as the source of nearly 80 per cent of the world's illicit opium, with nearly 1 per cent of its total arable land -- some 640 square kilometres -- devoted to poppy growing. In response, the UN Drug Control Programme (UNDCP) established a poppy crop reduction project, as part of which it introduced alternative crops, rehabilitated irrigation systems and improved roads. It worked with the Taliban with some success, and in December 2000 noted that the Taliban had banned opium production, although the Security Council sanctions made it difficult to support alternate crop development projects.

2000 and beyond

The conflict in Afghanistan continued unabated until the end of 2001. Throughout this period, the international aid community, including the United Nations, tried with varying levels of success to ensure that the victims of the war and turmoil - ordinary Afghans trying to live their lives - received at least the minimum needed for survival. Political and security problems, in the absence of an effective government, caused frequent interruptions in the flow of humanitarian assistance, and various crises required the temporary departure of UN and non-governmental aid workers.

In the late 1990s, the people of Afghanistan, already suffering the devastating effects of civil war, also faced a series of natural disasters -- starting with earthquakes in February and May 1998 that killed more than 7,000 and adversely affected the livelihoods and shelter of a further 165,000. In June, some 6,000 people were killed in severe flooding. Since then, a severe and protracted drought - the worst in living memory - has brought further suffering to some 2.5 million people already living on the edge of survival.

In the face of such a daunting situation, the UN redoubled its efforts, delivering more than 94,000 tons of food aid to 1.13 million people in 2000 alone, while vaccinating some 5.3 million children against polio and providing support for non-discriminatory education to more than 300,000 children - including home schooling projects for girls.

Nevertheless, one quarter of all children born in Afghanistan were dying of preventable diseases before the age of five. Afghan women were nearly five times more likely to die in childbirth than in other developing countries. Typhoid and cholera epidemics were rampant and pneumonia and malaria had re-emerged as public health threats. The condition of women had deteriorated markedly, and only one in 20 girls received any kind of education.

Between 1988 and 2000, more than 4.6 million Afghan refugees returned to their homes with UNHCR assistance, but as the fighting continued they were soon replaced by new refugees; themselves in need of clothing and housing from UNHCR and their host countries. All told, by the end of 2001 UNHCR had spent at least $1.2 billion for refugee operations in Pakistan, $352 million in Iran, and $72 million inside Afghanistan. As the year ended, some 2 million refugees remained in Pakistan and 1.5 million in Iran.

To compound the problem, refugees were returning to what the UN Mine Clearance Programme has called the most heavily mined country in the world, with a staggering 9.7 million landmines. As part of its efforts, the Programme cleared some 68 square kilometres of previously infested areas, but much remains to be done.

In 2000, as in previous years, the vast majority of funding for the UN-coordinated appeals for Afghanistan was earmarked by donors for emergency relief - notably food aid by WFP. Funds to promote Afghan self-sufficiency remained in short supply, with only $6 million being received for projects to increase access to sustainable livelihoods. Programmes to promote agricultural development - a particularly acute area of need given the drought - were almost non-existent.

On 4 September 2001, the UN and its partners issued a report entitled "The Deepening Crisis", which highlighted the desperate and worsening humanitarian situation faced by Afghans across the country. The report contained a plan of action to support critically vulnerable Afghans during the upcoming winter period and beyond, identifying the needs of 5 million people severely affected by three years of drought and many years of fighting. The plan envisaged providing food aid, shelter for internally displaced people, and support to help people remain in their own homes instead of adding to the numbers of those displaced.


Post 11 September

In the escalation of the conflict in Afghanistan following the 11 September terrorist attack on the United States by the Afghan-based Al Qaeda group, the Security Council expressed support for the efforts of the Afghan people to replace the Taliban regime, once again condemned for allowing Afghanistan to be used as a base for the export of terrorism and for providing safe haven to Usama bin Laden.

On 1 October, in his address to a special week-long session of the General Assembly on terrorism, Secretary-General Kofi Annan said, "As we summon the will and the resources needed to succeed in the struggle against terrorism, we must also care for all the victims of terrorism, whether they are the direct targets or other populations who will be affected by our common effort. That is why I have launched an alert to donors about the potential need for much more generous humanitarian assistance to the people of Afghanistan."

That new alert called on the international community to provide $584 million to meet the humanitarian needs of some 7.5 million Afghan civilians over the following six months, with particular concern to ensure adequate food supplies ahead of winter setting in. Unfortunately, increasing conflict in Afghanistan, including the military response to the terrorist attacks on the US, compelled UN agencies to withdraw international staff from the country, and the flow of food and other essentials into the country was slowed or halted.

As the situation unfolded, the UN continued its role in promoting dialogue among Afghan parties, aimed at establishing a broad-based, inclusive government. On 3 October, the Secretary-General reappointed Lakhdar Brahimi, who had resigned two years earlier, as his Special Envoy for Afghanistan.

On 12 November, the "Six plus Two" group met in New York under the chairmanship of the Secretary-General, agreeing on the need for a broad-based and freely chosen Afghan government and pledging continued support for UN humanitarian efforts in Afghanistan, as well as in refugee camps in neighbouring States. On 27 November, a conference on Afghanistan's reconstruction sponsored by UNDP, the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank, opened in Islamabad. Over 300 participants attended, including many from Afghanistan. Issues discussed included the role of women, the importance of education and the creation of a comprehensive health system.
A further donor conference -- focusing on the immediate and longer-term needs of the country -- was held in Berlin in early December.

Meanwhile, the Northern Alliance had entered Mazar-e-Sharif, Herat and then Kabul - a decisive event in the defeat of the Taliban. The United Nations organized a meeting of Afghan political leaders in Bonn in late November. When it concluded on 5 December, the four groups represented, including the Northern Alliance, signed an agreement on a provisional arrangement pending re-establishment of permanent government institutions in Afghanistan.

As a first step, the Afghan Interim Authority was established. On 20 December, the Security Council, by resolution 1386 (2001), authorized the establishment of an International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) to help the Authority maintain security in Kabul and its surrounding areas. On 22 December, in Kabul, the internationally recognized administration of President Rabbani handed power to the new Interim Afghan Administration, established in Bonn and headed by Chairman Hamid Karzai. Special Representative Brahimi moved to Kabul to commence his activities in support of the new Afghan Administration. At the same time, the first of the ISAF troops were deployed, under British control.

With the easing of hostilities, WFP was able to deliver a record 114,000 metric tonnes of food aid in December - enough to feed 6 million people for two months. Still, by 20 December, only some $358 million of the nearly $662 million being sought for UN relief work in Afghanistan had been received, and the needs of only one agency - the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) - had been fully covered. And while the WFP had achieved 81 per cent of its funding requirements, UNHCR had secured only 59 per cent. As in the past, funds were mostly being donated for emergency relief, with very little for reconstruction and rehabilitation.

To maintain the momentum for international assistance to Afghanistan generated by the political process an International Conference on Reconstruction Assistance on Afghanistan was held in Tokyo on 21 and 22 January 2002. Addressing the Conference, Secretary-General Kofi Annan said such assistance would require $10 billion over a 10-year period, including $1.3 billion to cover immediate needs for 2002. That latter covers recurrent costs of the Interim Authority, as yet unfunded humanitarian assistance, and $376 million for quick impact and recovery projects "that are ready to go."

"Two months from today, some 1.5 million Afghan girls and boys will return to school, to start a new school year in a new Afghanistan," he said. "For many girls of primary school age, it will be the first time in their lives that they have been allowed to attend school. Supplies and safe learning spaces are needed. Teachers will need to be deployed and paid. If we want to help the next generation of Afghans improve upon the country's recent history, surely this is one place where our efforts must begin."

"Our challenge is to help the Afghans help themselves," Mr. Annan added, describing the country's reconstruction needs as immense. They include the reintegration of former combatants; revival of economic activity; a fairer justice system, democratic institutions and mechanisms to protect human rights; such basic serves as clean water, sanitation, schools, health care and roads; ensuring the country is no longer a haven for terrorists or drug traffickers; ending violence against women; protecting childrens' rights; and ensuring security throughout the country.

A preliminary needs assessment prepared by the World Bank, UNDP and Asian Development Bank identified possible high-priority areas. These include: mine action; a basic health-services package to reduce child and maternal mortality; an education programme to enrol over a million girls and boys in school; rapid increase in food production through irrigation and other programmes; increased access to safe water; shelter to facilitate resettlement and development of a national urban management capacity; emergency energy supply while restoring the existing power system; urban and rural employment generation; supporting local-level reconstruction; and creating a conducive socio-economic environment for returning refugees.

The Tokyo Conference resulted in pledges of over $4.5 billion, which the Secretary-General described as "remarkably successful." He also praised its Interim Administration Chairman Hamid Karzai for welcoming international auditors to ensure that the money will be well spent.

Secretary-General Kofi Annan visited Kabul on 25 January to offer moral support to the new Interim Administration and to thank members of the United Nations staff in Afghanistan for their sustained effort to provide humanitarian assistance to the Afghan people.

The first milestone of the Bonn Agreement was achieved with the announcement that same day of the composition of the Special Independent Commission for the Convening of the Emergency Loya Jirga (pashto for grand council -- a traditional forum in which tribal elders can come together and settle affairs).

The Commission is composed of 21 members. It has the final authority for determining the procedures for and the number of people who will participate in the Emergency Loya Jirga, which will elect a Head of State for the Transitional Administration and will approve proposals for the structure and key personnel of the Transitional Administration. The Bonn Agreement sets out that free and fair elections must be held within two years of the establishment of the Loya Jirga.