Global perspective Human stories

Security Council delegation meets with leaders in western Afghanistan

Security Council delegation meets with leaders in western Afghanistan

Ambassador Gunter Pleuger
The Security Council mission to Afghanistan today completed a daylong visit to the western city of Herat, meeting with senior leaders and civil society for talks on a number of key issues, including peace and security and human rights.

The 15-member Council delegation led by German Ambassador Gunter Pleuger began its visit with a meeting with the Deputy Governor of Herat, Haji Miv Abdel Khaliq, at the Governor's residence perched on a scenic hill overlooking the city.

Among the topics discussed were the importance of the province of Herat to cooperate with the central government in achieving peace and democracy, the need to end factional fighting and violence and the role of human rights to build a free civil society.

The mission also held a meeting with the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission and other civil society representatives, during which the participants underscored the importance of human rights, in particular women's rights, in order to establish long-lasting stability.

Council members then heard the views of the advisory Shura, or provincial elders, about the political landscape and discussed security issues with the top military commander of the area, Gen. Baz Mohammad.

Before returning to the Afghan capital of Kabul, Ambassador Pleuger told reporters at a press encounter that by visiting Herat, the Council delegation was able to obtain first-hand a very good impression of the magnitude of problems facing Afghans on the path towards democracy and prosperity.

"We can visit only two (provinces) - we are going only to Herat and Mazar-i-Sharif - but we wanted to say, 'Look it is important that the provinces and in particular a stable and rich province like Herat are cooperating closely with the central government in achieving these goals,' and for that purpose we feel the message would be factional strife and violence have to be stopped," he said.

Ambassador Pleuger also highlighted the importance of the human rights of women in Herat. "These women are a very valuable human resource and it is in the interests of every country and every society to develop this human resource and I think we have made this very, very clear in our discussions and we got a very positive response from the human rights people," he said.