Afghanistan: UN envoy travels to Geneva for meetings on political, relief aid issues

The Secretary-General's Special Representative for Afghanistan travelled to Geneva to attend two meetings on Afghanistan - one humanitarian, the other political - taking place over the next few days.

Special Representative Lakhdar Brahimi will attend the two-day Afghan Forum on refugees and displaced persons, which is expected to attract the participation of more than 120 representatives from donor countries, non-governmental organizations, aid agencies and the UN. The Forum will be hosted by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Ruud Lubbers, and the UN Emergency Relief Coordinator, Kenzo Oshima.

The second meeting, to take place on Sunday and Monday, will be convened under the framework of the Geneva Initiative, bringing together representatives from Germany, Italy, Iran and the United States who will examine new approaches to a political settlement in Afghanistan. That event will be chaired by Francesc Vendrell, the Secretary-General's Personal Envoy for Afghanistan.