KABUL – Members of the United Nations Security Council are considering avisit to Afghanistan to show solidarity with the Afghan people, meet Afghangovernment officials and assess the situation in the country, head of theUN Security Council said this week.
Kazakhstan Ambassador Kairat Umarov told reporters on Thursday that a tripwould give members the opportunity to get an understanding of the country’sneeds and prospects.
Sources told TOLOnews that the visit will likely happen on Saturday.
This would be the third visit of the council to Afghanistan. Previousvisits of the council were in 2003 and 2010.
This visit will happen at a time as Afghanistan is on the agenda of theUnited Nations Security Council.
Last year in December, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative forAfghanistan, Tadamichi Yamamoto said at the UN Security Council that themost concerning issue relating to Afghanistan was that of violence andinsecurity.
He said a convincing peace process was needed in order to end the 40 yearsof conflict, which has left 39 percent of the population under the povertyline, including 3.3 million in acute need of humanitarian aid.
He stated that the Kabul Process meeting planned for 1 February offers anopportunity to start a peace process.
He said, at this meeting, the Afghan government is expected to present itsstrategic concept for reaching a political settlement with the armedopposition, and seek the support of the international community.