Today, EU-CORD is sharing its four key messages for EU solidarity towards the people of Afghanistan. We connect as a network to share the messages that our members have been putting towards their respective governments since the current crisis started.
It is almost 20 years since my first visit to Afghanistan to carry out a humanitarian assessment as America and its allies sought recompense for the 9/11 attacks.
In the intervening years, much has changed, and these changes compound the heartache that is now unfolding. In the areas where EU-CORD members work there have been improvements not just in basic infrastructure such as roads, schools, and access to water, but peoples’ livelihoods have been supported, support structures put in place to support previously isolated women. We have worked with communities to build their resilience to natural disaster and to protect the most vulnerable within their communities.
This has only been achieved through working closely with our Afghan staff, Afghan civil society organisations and local communities.
Many of those who now face a more uncertain future are not just statistics (they never were) but they have become colleagues and friends.
EU-CORD has four key messages – that groups exercising effective control in Afghanistan respect international humanitarian and international human rights law. We look for a generous enforcement of the Common European Asylum System especially regarding the grounds for granting international protection to asylum seekers – including Afghans who have been working with national and international NGOs, and for the EU to increase funding for humanitarian assistance, and for immediate, safe, and unhindered humanitarian access for all humanitarian actors, including across conflict lines.
Read our full statement here / Afghanistan Statement
