Secretary-General meets Hamid Karzai, President of Afghanistan

The UN plays a leading role in co-ordinating the overall international effort in Afghanistan - including through co-Chairmanship of the Joint Co-ordination and Management Board, which oversees implementation of the Afghanistan Compact agreed in London in January 2006.

Most recent

On 9 July 2008, the Security Council heard from Special Representative to the Secretary General (SRSG) Kai Eide and Under Secretary General of the Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs, John Holmes. The UK's statement on Afghanistan underlined the continued challenges faced by the Government and people of Afghanistan, the steps needed to meet those challenges including the necessity for all member states to support a strengthened United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) and backed the priorities identified in the Secretary General's Report.  Click here for a detailed look at the UK's statement on Afghanistan.

On 11 July the Security Council adopted a Presidential Statement welcoming the Secretary-General's report and endorsing its recommendations with regard to strengthening UNAMA's mandate.

Background

In March 2008, the Secretary-General appointed Kai Eide, Norway's former ambassador to NATO, as his new SRSG to Afghanistan and head of UNAMA - the UN mission in Afghanistan. At the same time, the Security Council adopted a resolution extending and refocusing the UNAMA mandate, and underlining the key co-ordinating role of the SRSG.  On 20 March, the Security Council adopted UN Security Council Resolution 1806 (2008), which extended the mandate of UNAMA until 23 March 2009.

On 12 December 2007, the Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, made a statement to Parliament, setting out the out the next stage of UK thinking on and long-term support for Afghanistan, focussing on greater Afghanistan, reconstruction and burden-sharing.