Jan Egeland, Secretary-General of the Norwegian Refugee Council, has called on European, North American, and other countries to reopen their embassies in Afghanistan and engage with Taliban officials.
Egeland told Agence France-Presse in Kabul on Saturday, September 12, that engagement with the Taliban does not mean recognizing the government. Instead, he said countries should use engagement to demand rights for women and girls while also providing assistance to them.
He stressed that experienced organizations, special representatives, and diplomats should come to Afghanistan alongside humanitarian groups and engage with Taliban officials in Kabul and Kandahar.
Egeland said: “We are now on the front lines of humanity here, and humanitarian groups feel completely abandoned.”
The remarks come as international aid to Afghanistan has sharply declined since the Taliban took control of the country in 2021, leaving humanitarian organizations facing funding shortages to address the needs of the Afghan people.
