MODERN CONFLICT, GOOD

OFFICE AND UN: SPECIAL

POLITICAL MISSIONS IN
AFGHANISTAN
Submitted to:
Ms. ANITA BHATT
Submitted by:
Shreya (202908)
 MODERN CONFLICT

Conflict is defined as a clash between individuals arising

out of a difference in thought process, attitudes,
understanding, interests, requirements and even
sometimes perceptions. Modern conflict is increasingly
complicated by the rising prominence of non-state actors,
especially the growing influence of global terrorist groups
and transnational criminal networks. Similarly, increasing
involvement of regional players in intra-state wars and
expanding illicit flows of money and materiel across
national boundaries in places have contributed to an
entrenchment of conflict and have complicated the
search for sustainable peaceful outcomes.

GOOD OFFICE
Good office is a pretty broad term. Traditionally, the term
described the role played by a state in mediating
international disputes, such as Switzerland in a range of
inter-state crises from the Suez to Afghanistan. However, it
is a more difficult task to define good office. Javier Pérez
De Cuéllar simply referred to good offices as “quiet
diplomacy”. Boutros Boutros-Ghali more pragmatically
described the term as “any diplomatic action taken to
prevent disputes from arising between parties, to prevent
existing disputes from escalating into conflicts, and to limit
the spread of the latter when they occur”. In a similar
vein, Teresa Whitfield has noted that good offices can
mean “almost anything – from a well-timed telephone
call by the Secretary-General, to exploratory
conversations, or a full-fledged mediation effort
conducted in his or her name.” Ian Johnstone’s concise
but expansive definition captures the modern usage of
the term nicely: “Everything the UN can do of a
diplomatic nature to help prevent, manage or resolve
conflicts.” Thus, it can be summed up that Good Office
may mean any third-party assistance given to conflicting
parties to help find a solution to their problems which can
be in many different ways. It can involve advising parties
to a conflict or advising governments. It can mean
carrying messages between opposing sides. It can mean
trying to build trust or contact between groups, without
even putting oneself onto the peace process. Sometimes
it can mean providing expertise on different aspects of a
peace process.

EVOLUTION OF ROLE OF UN AS GOOD OFFICE

The UN derives the responsibility of good office from the
role, prestige and credibility of Secretary General. The first
recorded uses of the Secretary-General’s good offices
were in response to the 1946 Soviet invasion of the northern
Azeri region of Iran under Trygve Lie placing the UN at the
centre of inter-state conflict resolution.
Under the dynamic Dag Hammarskjöld, good offices
arguably expanded more quickly than at any other time in
the history of the UN.
The intractable Cyprus conflict—which has required a UN
operation from 1964 to this day captures key points along
the trajectory of good offices over roughly the next 40-year
period: Secretaries-General increasingly saw themselves as
active participants in conflict resolution with the ability to
proffer substantive proposals, push the parties with external
tools, and even engage outside the state-to-state
framework by communicating with populations.
Immediately after the Cold War, the delegation and
expansion of good offices, implicit in the appointment of a
Special Representative of the Secretary-General (SRSG) or
Special Envoy, was a dominant story of the 1990s.
Further evolution has been witnessed in this domain:
proliferation of UN entities with a good offices function,
increasing reliance on regional approaches, and the
growth of multi-dimensional peacekeeping.
SPECIAL POLITICAL MISSIONS IN AFGHANISTAN

In the backdrop of the Soviet invasion in Afghanistan and

ensuing socio-political crises , United Nations Good Offices
Mission in Afghanistan and Pakistan (UNGOMAP), a
peacekeeping mission was formed by the UN Security
Council in October 1988 to assist Afghanistan and
Pakistan in the implementation of the Geneva Accords
(Agreements on the Settlement of the Situation Relating
to Afghanistan signed by Afghanistan, Pakistan, the Soviet
Union, and the United States) and to investigate and
report any violation of the Accords. Afghanistan and
Pakistan agreed to not interfere in each other’s nations,
and on the return of refugees, while the Soviet Union and
the United States agreed to provide the guarantee for the
agreement. All parties agreed to seek a settlement of the
situation in Afghanistan, effectively allowing the Soviet
Union to withdraw. This latter part of the agreement
requested the United Nations Secretary-General to
provide a representative to assist in the conduct of the
agreement. The United Nations Good Offices Mission in
Afghanistan and Pakistan (UNGOMAP) provided support
to the Special Representative. The role of UNGOMAP was
to monitor the provisions of the non-interference
instrument, monitor the withdrawal of Soviet troops and
monitor the return of refugees. To do this, the Special
Representative was provided with 50 military observers
from ten countries the nationalities of which had to be
approved by the four parties to the agreement. Two
headquarters of five officers each were created in Kabul
and Islamabad. The remaining 40 officers were to be used
on inspection teams. The monitoring of the Soviet
withdrawal went very well. UNGOMAP established three
observation posts in Afghanistan: Hayratan, Torghundi
and the Soviet air base at Shindand. For the return of the
refugees, UNGOMAP worked with the United Nations High
Commissioner for Refugees. Secretary-General,
concerned of the work still to be done, created the Office
of the Secretary-General in Afghanistan and Pakistan
(OSGAP) as a follow-on mission after the UNGOMAP
ceased to exist on 15th March ,1990.

The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan

(UNAMA) is a political mission established by the Security
Council in 2002 at the request of the Government to assist
it and the people of Afghanistan in laying the foundations
for sustainable peace and development in the country.
Since 2008, and following a directive of the UN Secretary-
General, UNAMA is an integrated mission. This means that
the Special Political Mission, all UN agencies, funds and
programmes, work in a multidimensional and integrated
manner to better assist Afghanistan according to
nationally defined priorities.
In 2021, a new UN-Afghanistan Sustainable Development
Framework is jointly being developed.

CONCLUSION
The UN as the forum of world peace and governance has
played an active role in the assistance of war-torn country
of Afghanistan and in the capacity building of the
inhabitants through various programmes. These have
helped the people in gaining some normalcy in their life.
After the Taliban takeover of power, the people of the
state again bear the brunt of being exposed to
debilitating living conditions and a suppression of basic
human rights which is the main dimension of the
contemporary modern conflict. Though the UN Good
Office has indeed proven its mettle, yet it is also limited by
various bottlenecks in the initiation of relief measures.
However, in light of the mandate it was provided during
its inception, it is optimistically held that it will gather the
support of the world community to elevate the people of
Afghanistan out of their sufferings.

https://peacekeeping.un.org/mission/past/ungomap/index.html

https://unama.unmissions.org

https://www.jstor.org/stable/48505112

Politics in the Driving Seat: Good Offices, UN Peace Operations, and Modern Conflict by
Adam Day in Springer

Afghanistan National Development Strategy: A Strategy for Security, Governance, Economic

Growth, & Poverty Reduction (Kabul: Government of Islamic Republic of Afghanistan

http://www.embassyofafghanistan.org/documents/Afghanistan_National_Development_S
trategy_eng.pdf