Source description last updated: 9 June 2023

In brief: The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) is a political mission established by the UN Security Council to support Afghanistan in achieving peace and stability.

Coverage on ecoi.net:

Selected publications

Covered monthly on ecoi.net, for Afghanistan.

Mission/Mandate/Objectives:

The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) is a UN special political mission tasked to assist the people of Afghanistan. UNAMA was established in March 2002 by UN Security Council Resolution 1401. It is led by a Special Representative of the Secretary-General (SRSG) for Afghanistan. (UNAMA website: About, undated)

UNAMA envisions “a stable and prosperous Afghanistan that lives at peace with itself and its neighbours, where the rights of all the people of Afghanistan are upheld, without discrimination” (UNAMA website: Mission Statement, undated). UNAMA’s mandate, which has been modified over time based on the country’s needs, is reviewed annually by the UN Security Council (UNAMA website: About, undated). UN Security Council Resolution 2678 (2023), which extended the Mission’s mandate in March 2023, emphasized the “important role that the United Nations will continue to play in promoting peace and stability in Afghanistan” (UNAMA website: Mandate, undated). The Mission’s core areas of activity include “Gender Equality, Human Rights, Humanitarian Assistance, Good Offices, Governance, Rule of law, and Regional Cooperation. Others are Economic and Social Stability, Resilience, Child Rights, Risk management, and Security.” (UNAMA website: Activities, undated)

“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 1187 staff […].” (UNAMA website: About, undated)

In May 2023, UNAMA stated that the decision taken by the Taliban de facto authorities in April 2023 to ban Afghan women from working for the United Nations in Afghanistan (UNAMA: UN protests order from Taliban de facto authorities prohibiting Afghan women from working with the United Nations in Afghanistan, 5 April 2023) seriously undermined UNAMA’s work, including its ability to reach people in need (UNAMA: Statement of the UN in Afghanistan on de facto authorities’ decision to ban Afghan women from working for the UN, 5 May 2023)

Funding:

UNAMA is funded from the UN budget.

The budged approved and authorized for UNAMA’s activities in 2023 amounted to 132,479,200 US dollars (UN General Assembly: Proposed programme budget for 2023, 30 December 2022, p. 15).

Scope of reporting:

Geographic focus: Afghanistan

Thematic focus: human rights, protection of civilians in armed conflict, women’s rights, peace and civil society, treatment of detainees, etc.

Methodology:

UNAMA monitors the situation on the ground, including developments related to security and human rights (see, for example, UNAMA: Human Rights in Afghanistan 15 August 2021 – 15 June 2022, July 2022, p. 3).

A UNAMA report on the human rights situation in Afghanistan, covering the 10-month period following the Taliban takeover of power from 15 August 2021 to 15 June 2022, stated that it only included human rights violations and civilian casualties that have been assessed by UNAMA to be credible. The Human rights violations included in the report “have been confirmed by UNAMA HRS [Human Rights Service] with sources with knowledge of the incident and have been determined to be credible on the basis of the totality of the information provided.” Civilian casualties are included if there is “clear and convincing” evidence of civilian deaths or injury. To meet this standard, UNAMA requires “at least three different and independent types of sources, i.e. victim, witness, medical practitioner, local authorities, community leaders or other sources. Wherever possible, information is obtained from the primary accounts of victims and/or witnesses of incidents and through onsite fact-finding.” (UNAMA: Human Rights in Afghanistan 15 August 2021 – 15 June 2022, July 2022, p. 5)

However, the same report stated that “[t]he recording human rights violations in Afghanistan has been made more challenging by the [Taliban] de facto authorities’ dissolution of reporting and justice mechanisms operating under the previous government” (UNAMA: Human Rights in Afghanistan 15 August 2021 – 15 June 2022, July 2022, p. 3). Thus, the Mission emphasized that “UNAMA HRS does not claim that the data presented in this report – regarding either human rights violations or civilian casualties – are complete and acknowledges possible underreporting of both given the limitations inherent in the operating environment.” (UNAMA: Human Rights in Afghanistan 15 August 2021 – 15 June 2022, July 2022, p. 5)

Languages of publication:

English, Dari and Pashto

Further reading / links:

VOA: UN Warns Taliban Ban on Female Staff Could Force Closure of Afghan Operation, 11 April 2023 https://www.voanews.com/a/un-indicates-taliban-ban-on-female-staff-could-force-closure-of-afghan-operation-/7045251.html

Al Jazeera: Female Afghan employees detained since Taliban ban, UN says, 9 May 2023 https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/5/9/female-afghan-employees-detained-since-taliban-ban-un-says

Methodological note:

ecoi.net's source descriptions contain background information on an organisation’s mission & objective, funding and reporting methodology, as well as on how we cover the source. The descriptions were prepared after researching publicly accessible information within time constraints. Most information contained in a source description was taken from the source itself. The aim is to provide a brief introduction to the sources covered regularly, offering information on relevant aspects in one place in a systematic manner. 

All links accessed 9 June 2023.