Source · Select Committees · Foreign Affairs Committee
Recommendation 15
15
Paragraph: 49
It is important for the UK’s engagement with the Taliban to come alongside extensive and...
Recommendation
It is important for the UK’s engagement with the Taliban to come alongside extensive and targeted outreach to Afghan civil society, particularly those active on the ground. It should consult these groups on its policies towards Afghanistan and support them where possible through funding and other forms of engagement. This is important to Missing in action: UK leadership and the withdrawal from Afghanistan 57 protect the country’s civil society ecosystem, preventing the destruction of the progress it has made in recent decades; to ensure that their views are taken into account in the design of UK policy; and to show the Taliban that the world is watching its actions. In its response to this report, the Government should set out the steps it is taking to engage with Afghan civil society. In the longer term, we recommend that the Foreign Office should continue to invest in expertise on Afghanistan—drawing on that held by former DFID personnel—in order to inform its policy and ensure that we are ready when there is a change to re-engage with the country on a more profound level. This should include meaningful engagement with members of the British Afghan diaspora. The FCDO should also establish an atrocity and human rights abuse monitoring mechanism for Afghanistan.
Paragraph Reference:
49
Government Response
Acknowledged
HM Government
Acknowledged
111. The Government agrees on the importance of helping sustain Afghan civil society, and that regular engagement and consultation should inform the UK’s approach. Following the Taliban takeover, FCDO Ministers and officials have continued to meet a range of civil society representatives. The responsible FCDO Director holds regular NGO coordination meetings, attended by over 30 CEOs of NGOs operating in Afghanistan. NGO partners who are still on the ground in Afghanistan are vital delivery partners, and these meetings are an opportunity for the FCDO to get regular updates from them and discuss their practical concerns as well as wider policy issues. The Government agrees that the FCDO should continue to invest in its expertise on Afghanistan, and that such investment should include engagement with the British Afghan diaspora. 112. UK Conflict Stability and Security Fund programmes for Afghanistan for financial year 2022–23 will prioritise projects related to monitoring and reducing human rights abuses against women and girls and other at-risk groups; support to civil society and the independent Afghan media sector to sustain and amplify Afghan voices nationally and internationally; and enhancing Afghan capacity to reduce local-level tensions, including through conflict mitigation and de-escalation interventions. 113. The Government agrees with the Committee on the importance of atrocity and human rights abuse monitoring mechanisms covering Afghanistan. The UK has already worked with partners to establish multilateral atrocity prevention and early warning mechanisms for Afghanistan. The UK supported a UN Human Rights Council resolution that established a Special Rapporteur for Afghanistan, with a strong mandate to monitor and report on human rights. Richard Bennett was appointed to the role in April 2022, and has made a first visit to Afghanistan. He will report formally to the Human Rights Council in September. The UK also worked through the UN Security Council to strengthen the mandate for the UN Assistance Mission to Afghanistan (UNAMA) in March, including increased human rights reporting and monitoring. 114. The FCDO also has its own internal processes for monitoring human rights abuses in Afghanistan, drawing on a range of internal and external sources of information to provide evidence-based analysis. The FCDO regularly compares its assessments with other likeminded countries, and has issued joint statements, for example on the issue of girls’ education, and on the targeted killings and disappearances of former security and government officials.