Dialogue with Taliban should continue: UN

By Firdevs Bulut Kartal

TORONTO (AA) - The UN Special Envoy for Afghanistan said Tuesday that dialogue and engagement with the Taliban administration does not mean condoning its policies.

“On the contrary: dialogue and engagement are how we are attempting to change these policies," Pointing out that the UN Afghanistan Assistance Mission’s view is to continue to engage and to maintain dialogue, Roza Otunbayeva said at the Afghanistan session held at the UN Security Council and said the group should continue to ensure change.

She said the lack of trust between the parties continues to pose a problem, but despite those issues, they continue to make efforts to ensure that the doors of dialogue do not close and dialogue leads to change.

Afghanistan, an agriculture-based society, was seriously affected by the drought caused by climate change, said Otunbayeva, who urged UN member countries to support the Afghanistan aid plan.

Many humanitarian aid programs have been terminated due to insufficient funding, and aid should be increased urgently, especially as the winter months approach, she said.