Response to the Secretary General’s Thematic Report on Afghanistan
As delivered by Chargé d’Affaires Courtney Austrian
to the Permanent Council, Vienna
November 18, 2021
Thank you, Madam Chair.
I’d like to start off by saying that the humanitarian, security, and political crisis in Afghanistan is of concern for all of us, particularly because of the trickle down effects that we are all witnessing. And so the United States shares this concern. I think we all have an interest in ensuring that we do what we can as an organization to be responsive to what we are seeing in Central Asia and Afghanistan.
The OSCE already has been doing good work in this region: if you look at the Border Management Staff College in Dushanbe or the OSCE Academy in Bishkek. These are both good examples of where the OSCE has been able to use our mandates to make a good difference. Our Field Operations in each of the five Central Asian participating States are active every day in very productive ways. I think we all of us, when we have the reports, are able to see the good work that these institutions are doing.
We definitely support the idea of the OSCE finding a way to use our mandate to be responsive to the situation that we see, and we very much look forward to receiving the Food for Thought paper.
Thank you.
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