The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan ('
UNAMA
'') is a UN Special Political Mission tasked with assisting the people of

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

. UNAMA was established on 28 March 2002 by United Nations Security Council Resolution 1401. Reviewed annually, this mandate has been altered over time to reflect the needs of the country and was extended for one year, on 17 March 2022, by the UN Security Counci
Resolution 2626 (2022)

Resolution 2626 (2022)
calls for UNAMA and the Special Representative of the Secretary-General, within their mandate, to continue to lead and coordinate international civilian efforts. The Security Council also recognized that the renewed mandate of UNAMA is consistent with its resolution
1662 (2006)1746 (2007)1806 (2008)1868 (2009)1917 (2010)1974 (2011)2041 (2012)2096 (2013)2145 (2014)2210 (2015)2274 (2016)2344 (2017)2405 (2018)2460 (2019)2489 (2019)2543 (2020)2596 (2021)
The United Nations has been involved in the region since 1946 when Afghanistan joined the General Assembly. Agencies such as UNICEF have been operating in Afghanistan since 1949.

Structure

UNAMA's headquarters is in Kabul and it maintains a field presence across Afghanistan, as well as liaison offices in Pakistan and Iran. The Mission has around 1,164 staff: 770 Afghan nationals, 298 international staff and 68 UNVs. (Figures from June 2021.) The Mission has offices in Bamyan, Faizabad, Gardez, Herat, Mazar-e-Sharif, Kabul, Kandahar, Kunduz, Maimana, Pul-i-Khumri, and Jalalabad. The UNAMA opened a temporary remote office in Almaty, Kazakhstan in September 2021 to continue international humanitarian cooperation as result of the Taliban takeover. Since 2008, and following a directive of the UN Secretary-General, UNAMA is an integrated mission. This means that the Special Political Mission, all UN agencies, funds and programmes, work in a multidimensional and integrated manner to better assist Afghanistan according to nationally defined priorities. The SRSG is responsible for all UN activities in the country and directly oversees the Security Section, Strategic Communication Service, Human Rights Section, and Peace and Reconciliation. The SRSG's Chief of Staff oversees UNAMA's Field Offices. Two deputy Special Representatives (DSRSG) oversee the main pillars of the mission – political and developmental issues. Included under these pillars are mission sections specializing in issues such as political analysis, reporting, and outreach, and donor coordination, as well as the coordination of UN agencies funds and programmes.

Leadership

UNAMA is headed by Special Representatives of the Secretary-General (SRSG) for Afghanistan, Roza Otunbayeva, who was appointed to the post in September 2022, replacing

Deborah Lyons Deborah Lyons is a Canadian diplomat, formerly Canada's ambassador to Israel. Before that she was Canada's ambassador to Afghanistan. She was the head of mission at the Embassy of Canada, Kabul. She was the only female ambassador in Kabul. On ...

. Nine Special Representatives have served in this capacity -

Lakhdar Brahimi Lakhdar Brahimi (Algerian pronunciation: ; ar, الأخضر الإبراهيمي; '; born 1 January 1934) is an Algerian United Nations diplomat who served as the United Nations and Arab League Special Envoy to Syria until 14 May 2014. He was Mi ...

, (former Algerian Foreign Minister) served from October 2001 to January 2004,

Jean Arnault Jean Arnault is a French diplomat who currently serves as United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres' Personal Envoy on Afghanistan and Regional Issues. Early life and education Arnault studied Philosophy, Linguistics and Political Scienc ...

held the post from February 2004 to February 2006, followed by Tom Koenigs from March 2006 to December 2007,

Kai Eide Kai Aage Eide (born 28 February 1949 in Sarpsborg) is a Norwegian diplomat and writer. He was appointed the United Nations Special Representative to Afghanistan and Head of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) on 7 March ...

from 2008 to 2010, Staffan di Mistura from 2010 to 2011,

Ján Kubiš Ján Kubiš (born 12 November 1952) is a Slovak diplomat and former Minister of Foreign Affairs. He was appointed as United Nations Special Coordinator for Lebanon in 2019 by the United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres, and as head ...

from 2012 to 2014,

Nicholas Haysom Nicholas Roland Leybourne "Fink" Haysom (born 21 April 1952) is a South African lawyer and diplomat who focuses on democratic governance, constitutional and electoral reforms and the reconciliation and peace process. Since 2021, he has been serv ...

from 2014 to 2016, Tadamichi Yamamoto from 2016 to 2020, and

from March 2020 to June 2022. was appointed ''Deputy SRSG (political)'' in June 2022. Ramiz Alakbarov was appointed ''Deputy SRSG (humanitarian)'' in December 2020.

Political affairs

The ''Deputy SRSG (political)'' also has specific responsibility for political affairs: political outreach, conflict resolution, and regional cooperation. Responsibilities include the analysis and reporting, political affairs, Women, Peace and Security, rule of law and liaison’s offices in Islamabad and Teheran.

Development and Humanitarian Assistance

UNAMA's ''Deputy SRSG (humanitarian)'' is expected to manage UN support for development efforts in

, including capacity building and coordination of humanitarian assistance from international bodies. , ''Deputy SRSG (humanitarian)'' Alakbarov also holds the post of UN Resident Coordinator for Afghanistan, responsible for the coordination of the work of the UN Country Team. The UNCT in Afghanistan comprises 20 agencies, funds and programmes with offices in Afghanistan:
FAO
(Food and Agriculture Organization)
IFAD
(International Fund for Agricultural Development)

(International Labour Organization)
IOM
(International Organization for Migration)
OCHA
(UN Office Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs)
OHCHR
(Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights)
UN WOMEN
(United Nations Development Fund for Women)
UNAIDS
(United Nations program on HIV/AIDS)

(United Nations Development Programme)
UNESCO
(United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization)
UNFPA
(United Nations Population Fund)
UN-HABITAT
(United Nations Centre for Human Settlements)

(United Nations High Commission for Refugees)
UNICEF
(United Nations Children’s Fund)
UNIDO
(United Nations Industrial Development Organization)
UNITAR
(United Nations Institute for Training and Research)
UNMAS
(United Nations Mine Action Service)

(United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime)
UNOPS
(UN Office for Project Services)
WFP
(World Food Programme)
WHO
(World Health Organization) ''*OHCHR is integrated with UNAMA, working under direction of the SRSG''

References

External links

UNAMAUnited NationsA Democracy Is Born: An Insider's Account of the Battle Against Terrorism in Afghanistan
{{DEFAULTSORT:United Nations Assistance Mission In Afghanistan

1401 Year 1401 ( MCDI) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events January–December * January 6 – Rupert, King of Germany, is crowned King of the Romans at Cologne. * ...

2000s in Afghanistan 2010s in Afghanistan Political history of Afghanistan War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) Organizations established in 2002 2002 establishments in Afghanistan Afghanistan and the United Nations