Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 27 January 2022
221. Deputy Denis Naughten asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if he will report on the conference in Oslo with Afghan representatives regarding humanitarian relief for the Afghan people; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4139/22]
View answerNorway, the current chair of the UN Security Council, initiated a set of talks in Oslo from 23 to 25 January, with the stated goal of taking steps towards addressing the humanitarian situation in the country, as well as engaging the Taliban on human rights issues, especially girls’ schooling and women’s participation in society. The talks comprised three strands, involving representatives of the Taliban, representatives of Afghan civil society, and representatives of the governments of Norway, France, Germany, Italy, the UK, and the US. The EU also took part in some of these talks, represented by its Special Envoy for Afghanistan Tomas Niklasson.
EU Special Envoy Niklasson has already had a number of meetings with Taliban representatives in Doha, in line with the EU’s five benchmarks for engagement with the Taliban agreed by Foreign Ministers in September 2021. In his meetings, Special Envoy Niklasson continues to emphasise the need for the Taliban to respect the human rights of all Afghans as well as discussing the humanitarian and ‘humanitarian plus’ assistance that the EU is providing for Afghanistan through UN agencies, international organisations, and NGOs. In his meeting with the Taliban representatives who travelled to Oslo, he again raised human rights concerns and he reconfirmed that the EU would continue its humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan, calling for further meetings moving forward, as well as discussing Taliban engagement with UN-appointed special rapporteurs.
Since the Taliban seizure of power last August, the EU and Member States have allocated more than €1 billion in funding to UN agencies and NGOs working in Afghanistan, for both humanitarian aid and for supporting basic needs (‘humanitarian plus’). The EU also established a humanitarian air bridge that in 2021 delivered 280 tonnes of lifesaving medication, food and equipment against COVID-19 to Afghanistan. The EU has re-established a minimal diplomatic presence in Kabul in recent days, in order to better engage with the Taliban-appointed caretaker cabinet on humanitarian and human rights issues.
