UN boss: Aid agencies must not take ‘eye off the ball’ in Afghanistan

Ian Ridley, head of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Afghanistan, says aid agencies and the international community must not take their “collective eye off the ball” in Afghanistan at this critical moment for peace. 

A further slide into conflict would cause widespread humanitarian misery for Afghans, who have faced decades of war and displacement. Combined with the effects of climate change, a return to civil war would “devastate” the country, the OCHA chief told Rudaw English correspondent Robert Edwards in Kabul this September. 

However, Ridley also warns there are big challenges ahead even if a peace deal is secured between the Afghan government and the Taliban, as refugees and IDPs return from exile, institutions develop, and the economy recovers. 

The OCHA chief says the billions of dollars spent in humanitarian aid have been worth the expense and that donors must not lose interest in Afghanistan. 

Click here to watch Rudaw’s feature length documentary – Afghanistan: The Missing Peace

READ MORE: Afghanistan: The Missing Peace – Part IV: Aid sector prepares for peace

Rudaw: How has the deterioration of the security situation impacted humanitarian aid work? Have you been forced to suspend projects? 

Ian Ridley: Of course humanitarians take security very seriously. So as you can see as you drive around town, compounds are well secured and you have to go through a lot of procedures to move around. I think humanitarians deal with that by making sure they talk to the people they need to talk to as they move around to get access to people in need. So, have we had to suspend programmes? No. Does it require a lot of work to talk to people in the parts of the country that we’re going to make sure they understand why we’re coming and that there’s a level of trust built? Yes. So that’s a core part of our work. 

What role is the aid sector playing in promoting inter-Afghan peace talks? Should it be playing a role?

Well, the best thing the aid sector can do is to be ready for when peace does come. There are parts of the country that we currently can’t get to, or we can’t get to regularly. There are a few small parts of the country that we can’t reach at all. And of course we very much hope that as a result of peace we can access those people. So readiness is the most important thing. We do stand back from that political process. As you say, humanitarians don’t want to be involved directly in that political process. But we can use the time that this process is ongoing to get ready to benefit from peace and reach those people that we haven’t been able to reach for the last weeks, months, and in some cases years. 

Part of that is capacity building?

So, part of it is making sure that we have the capacity in place, that the national government organisations, the United Nations agencies are ready in the right places with the right things to get all across the country with humanitarian assistance. Of course a lot of it as well is telling donors that we’re ready and therefore they should give more resources so that we can do that work. And another large part of it is talking to people in those communities when we do get access to explain why we’re coming and what we’re doing so that our intentions are interpreted correctly. 

Can the aid sector have a detrimental effect on economic development? How is this mitigated? 

So you’re right to point out that large amounts of aid money flowing in, if not used properly, can have a detrimental impact. It can distort local markets, it can at its worst put local businesses out of business. Fortunately that’s not a problem we have here right now because unfortunately the amount of aid we are receiving is lower than it needs to be. We’ve appealed for about $620 million this year. So far we’ve received $250 million. So, not quite the volumes of aid that are going to impact and distort markets. But if those aid flows do increase as a result of donors giving more money, then we do have techniques that the aid community uses, that the United Nations and the NGOs in cooperation with local and national authorities use to make sure that that doesn’t happen. It’s about spending money on the right things at the right time. And the most critical piece to that is doing assessments in advance of handing out humanitarian assistance so we know what aid is needed where and we’re getting the right aid to the right places at the right time.

What are the main causes of displacement in Afghanistan? What is being done for them?

So what causes people to move, I would say there are two main causes here. The first is conflict and the second is the lack of economic opportunity. It could be a combination of the two, one could come first. But for somebody to make the decision to leave their home and move either inside the country or cross a border and go to a neighbouring country means they have been through a big shock, that they’re not able to sustain themselves in their home village or their hometown. The majority of people affected, the majority of people on the move, that’s 60 percent, are children. As you’ve intimated it’s measured in the millions of Afghan refugees abroad. And I think if peace comes and if economic prosperity grows in Afghanistan, those people will come back. 

What about those returning from Iran to escape economic problems under US sanctions there? And those who have been unsuccessful claiming asylum in Europe? What’s the impact of that backward flow, especially if Afghanistan’s economy and security have not improved?

That’s a great question. So human beings are economic beings, so they will leave the country if reasons of economics, if their livelihoods, are not sustainable. And you’re right to point out that if they’ve gone to a country where for whatever reason the economy isn’t thriving they’ll decide to either go further or come back. Of course when people come back it’s critical that they’re met as they return, their needs are assessed, and they’re assisted with moving back where they want to go home and for the vast majority that will be to where they came from in the first place. So the United Nations, through the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), has a programme to help people coming back across the border. But of course it requires the whole community as well as local and national government to create economic opportunities for these people coming back, and it really does come down to that combination of the economy and conflict and getting both of those things right to enable people to stay where they want to be. 

And those two things are entwined?

They are clearly. Conflict has a detrimental impact on the economy. We see that not only here but around the world. And countries that don’t experience conflict on an ongoing basis tend to prosper. So, you’re right, they’re very closely related. 

How have tribal and cultural pressures impacted aid, development, and civic rights - for women in particular?

So, Afghanistan is a very diverse country. I think if we see that diversity as an asset rather than a liability that helps us figure out our approach. The aid work that NGOs, the UN does, it’s fundamentally local. We don’t sit here in Kabul telling our colleagues in Herat or Kandahar or Jalalabad or Mazar-e-Sharif what to do. Obviously we have a planning role and a resourcing role, but operations on the ground are driven very locally by those organisations, and I point particularly to the NGOs and a lot of national non-governmental organisations that have great access to these communities because many of their staff are from those communities, they’ve grown up in those communities. So I think it’s important to recognise that the vast majority of humanitarian aid workers are nationals of the country they’re in, so here the vast majority are Afghans. So if I take my own organisation, OCHA, I much prefer that it’s my national staff going out into the villages and talking with the local people. They speak the language, they know the culture, they have access that I couldn’t possibly have. My role really is to help them do their job more effectively. And so the small number of international aid workers that are here are here to play a very specific role in the big machinery of humanitarian action. 

What achievements have been made for women and how has the international community supported that? Are you concerned that these rights could be in danger following peace talks? 

The United Nations stands for the rights of all women. And it stands for the right of all women to exercise their freedom and to, for example, be active in the workplace. So we’re practicing that here in my workplace by hiring more and more women. But of course you are right to point out that there are elements of that historical and cultural elements of that that make it a challenge in Afghanistan in a way that it’s not a challenge in other parts of the world. I think the best thing we can do therefore is to find those small little steps forward that we can make together, whether that’s here in Kabul or whether that’s across the country. Everywhere that I’ve been in Afghanistan over the last year that I’ve been here I have seen women in the workplace, I’ve seen women exercising their freedoms, and of course we very much hope that is maintained in the future. 

Have the billions of dollars spent in aid been worth it?

I think humanitarian aid is always worth it. There’s no question. I mean, if we look at what humanitarian aid has achieved, it puts children in school in a context where many children aren’t able to go to school, it provides assistance in hospitals for people that get sick, it helps malnourished children regain their health and strength so that they can have lives that thrive. It helps displaced people get shelter, get water, get their basic needs met. I think the question of has it been worth it is really like asking has it been worth it having an emergency department at a hospital. It’s necessary, it’s needed, it needs to be there. Of course what we would like is for nobody to require the services of that emergency department, but that currently isn’t the world we live in. 

Despite the vast amount spent, Afghanistan still seems to be the neglected story, overshadowed by Iraq and Syria. Could the deterioration of security have been prevented had the international community better understood the conflict and done more to support economic development?

I think certainly if the international community broadly, the better it understands any context the better its outcomes are going to be. And I think we can see around the world that we struggle. There’s so much going on at the moment. So much conflict, so much need. Climate change is driving new challenges that we haven’t seen before. We see major hurricanes. I think we’re struggling to adjust, to get used to this new reality. What we want to do as the United Nations, what I want my organisation OCHA to do, is to tell the story better of what’s really going on here so that people do pay attention. And that’s not because it’s a competition. We’re not competing with Syria or Yemen, that we owe it to the people of Afghanistan to tell their story so that people know what they need and what they wish for.

Parallels are already being drawn with the early ‘90s. Is Afghanistan at risk of returning to civil war? What humanitarian impact would this have?

So of course we hope that peace will come and things will improve. If the opposite happens, and we hope that doesn’t happen, but if the country does slip in the other direction, then clearly humanitarian needs with grow, displacement will grow, there will be even fewer young children, especially young girls, in school. The social infrastructure of the country will be strained. Hospitals, the water facilities, and of course it will have a massive negative impact on the economy. We must remember that the vast majority of people in this country rely on agriculture for their livelihoods. And so that twin shock of increased conflict and what we’re seeing already in climate change would have a devastating impact on Afghanistan. 

Are you optimistic about the peace process? 

I think if you’re not a natural optimist, this work isn’t for you. We have to be optimistic. I’ve been doing this work for 25 years, so if I was a pessimist I think by now I would have given up. So I’m optimistic that when human beings get around a table and dialogue, outcomes will be good. Will it happen at the pace that pleases everybody? Perhaps not. But as a colleague of mine once said to me it’s taken us hundreds if not thousands of years to get to the place we’re in, so it will probably take us as long to move forwards to that more prosperous place. 

Anything you would like to add? 

The key thing that I would say just to wrap everything up is that you’re right when you asked about the attention of the international community is paying to Afghanistan. Now is not the time to take our collective eye off the ball. That’s why humanitarians are here, that’s why we continue to do the work that we do, because we all believe in a peaceful and prosperous Afghanistan. So as that becomes ever more into our sights, we shouldn’t give up. On the contrary, we should invest more of our efforts and more attention on this country.