New UN office aims to boost development in southern Afghanistan

The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) has announced plans to scale up its efforts to bring development and reconstruction to the country’s southern region by opening a new office in Tirin Kot, the capital of Uruzgan province.

“The opening of our new office will be in direct support of the people of Uruzgan, aid agencies and other civil society organizations that want to deliver more development assistance in this vital province of southern Afghanistan,” said Kai Eide, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Afghanistan and head of UNAMA.

Mr. Eide said that the challenges of bringing development assistance to Uruzgan – which, along with Helmand and Kandahar, is among the most strife-torn areas of the country – are “vast, but not insurmountable.

“Making progress will require the concerted and sustained effort of the central and provincial government and the donor community,” he added.

In addition to ensuring that more development reaches the people of Uruzgan, the new office will also play a key role in helping local communities, coordinating humanitarian efforts, supporting local government institutions to strengthen good governance and the rule of law, and monitor human rights.

UNAMA has 17 other offices located in Mazar-i-Sharif, Kunduz, Herat, Kandahar, Nangarhar, Bamiyan, Kabul, Gardez, Ghor, Kunar, Khost, Nimroz, Badghis, Maimana, Faizabad, Daikundi and Zabul.