The future happiness of Afghanistan is at stake

The recent UN independent assessment on Afghanistan, pursuant to Security Council Resolution 2679 (2023), has proposed a three-pronged initiative, focusing on building confidence through addressing the basic needs of the people of Afghanistan, attention to regional and global security and stability, and a roadmap for political engagement to reintegrate Afghanistan into the international community.

It has also proposed a multilayer UN mechanism in support of this initiative. As a welcome recommendation, the assessment envisages a more active and structured role for the UN in coordinating the now-fragmented international response to the situation in Afghanistan.

Given the Council’s expectation to see a “forward looking” assessment, the analysis doesn’t cover what has gone wrong in the past. It simply