The G20 agrees to invest 1,300 million in Afghanistan, under the coordination of the United Nations | international

Italy coordinated the extraordinary summit of the Group of Twenty (G20) devoted to Afghanistan by assuming the rotating presidency of the group of countries comprising the world’s major economies. At the end of the month the meeting will be held with the heads of state of all these countries, but CEO of Mario Draghi He insisted that the issue of the crisis in Afghanistan be dealt with in an extraordinary meeting to allocate the appropriate space for it and not to monopolize the other meeting. The summit, which actually took place, was rather lackluster as the leaders of Russia and China, Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping, did not participate. But Draghi called it a “success,” announced an investment in Afghanistan and neighboring countries worth 1 billion euros in humanitarian aid from the European Union and another 300 million from the United States, and celebrated the return of multilateralism.

Sources from the Zhiji Palace said the absence of the Chinese and Russian leaders – represented by the foreign minister and deputy branch minister respectively – was not due to diplomatic issues. It is true that there were some differences a few weeks ago about what role the G20 should play, but the findings of the group of countries on Tuesday have been shared, according to the same sources. Draghi stressed that the humanitarian emergency was “extremely dangerous”. He said in the press conference that followed the meeting that “many people and representatives of the United Nations are talking about a humanitarian catastrophe and have noticed how things are rushing with the approach of winter.” In fact, it will be the United Nations that will coordinate the approved aid and the drawn up contingency plan, for which it is still not clear how collaborators from Western countries who remained in Afghanistan will be evacuated.

Afghanistan fell into the hands of the Taliban on August 15 after the departure of US forces, and has since denied access to international funds, exacerbating its humanitarian crisis. For this reason, the G20 – Spain, the Netherlands, Qatar, representatives of the European Union, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank – analyzed the need to protect what remained of the financial system and banks in Afghanistan. The country’s economic collapse must be prevented. Because this would mean preventing the collapse of the payment system, something that would mean that humanitarian assistance could not continue. “The same goes for the banking system,” Draghi said.

But the main problem that the G-20 must face is the balance in the relationship that arises with the Taliban regime from now on. Intense enough not to exacerbate the humanitarian crisis and the ability to deliver aid, but to an extent that does not require legitimacy de facto for the system. First you have to respond to the humanitarian crisis. This means communicating with them, there is no alternative. “If they don’t let us in, we won’t,” Draghi admitted. “It is necessary for this response to be effective. But this is not an admission. The Taliban will be judged by what they do, not what they say. And we are already seeing things like women’s rights going back to 20 years ago.”

The head of the Spanish government, Pedro Sanchez, the permanent guest of the Group of Twenty, called for work together so that the progress made in the country in the past two decades is not lost. Our priorities in Afghanistan are clear: ensuring humanitarian assistance and respect for human rights, especially the rights of women and girls, and promoting evacuation efforts. Today [por este martes] A second plane with Afghan collaborators will arrive in Spain. “No one will be left behind,” he wrote on Twitter.

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