'Survival will be an achievement' for new Afghan Government, says UN envoy

15 March 2016 – The new Afghan Government, formed through a power-sharing agreement, must manage its difficult transition in 2016 by overcoming political, economic and security challenges, the top United Nations official in that country told the Security Council today, as the 15-nation body extended the UN mission there for another year.

“In 2016, Afghanistan is being as severely tested as it was in 2015, by the task of managing its difficult transition with its interrelated political, economic and security challenges,” said Nicholas Haysom, the Secretary-General's Special Representative and head of the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA).

He highlighted five major hurdles facing the National Unity Government, including a contracting economy, an intensifying insurgency, an increasingly divided political environment, significant medium-term financial demand, and the need to achieve progress towards a sustainable peace.

“For 2016, survival will be an achievement” for the Government, he said. “Some may criticize this benchmark as being low, but survival does not mean inaction, or merely 'treading water,' but it means active engagement in confronting the five challenges," he added. - Read More

• 'Survival will be an achievement' for new Afghan Government, says UN envoy

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