Chair,

I am speaking on behalf of the EU and its Member States.

1.         The EU and its Member States remain deeply concerned about the situation in Afghanistan, which continues to face an unprecedented humanitarian crisis with alarming poverty and food insecurity rates across the country. The Taliban edict in December 2022, banning female staff from working for national and international NGOs, not only violates fundamental human rights principles but jeopardizes the effective delivery of humanitarian and basic needs assistance to the population across the country, thereby putting at risk the lives of millions of Afghans. In line with our values, the EU and its Member States strongly condemn this ban, as well as the multiple previous decisions violating women’s rights and fundamental freedoms, and continue to call on the Taliban to lift these decision immediately, as part of their obligation to respect and ensure respect for fundamental human rights, international humanitarian law and humanitarian principles.

2.         We stand firm in our support to the Afghan people and recognize the need to find ways to continue delivering principled humanitarian aid and basic needs assistance, wherever and whenever possible. At a recent Afghanistan Senior Officials’ Meeting, we formalized a unified donor position to ensure a coordinated response to the unacceptable consequences of the Taliban’s restrictive measures for women. This ban is discriminatory and impedes the delivery of basic services and humanitarian aid to the Afghan people. Providing humanitarian support and basic needs assistance to women and by women is vital. We encourage UNHCR and all partners to continue delivering humanitarian aid in Afghanistan on the basis of the parameters outlined in the IASC Guiding Principles. As the humanitarian situation is likely to further deteriorate, we call for urgent preparedness efforts and contingency planning. This needs to be associated with transparent and regular monitoring measures to ensure accountability towards the Afghan population and donors.

3.         We encourage humanitarian aid and basic needs assistance to continue where women can meaningfully participate in the needs assessments, delivery of assistance, and monitoring activities. Meaningful participation by female humanitarian personnel is the only way to fully ensure that women beneficiaries actually receive or access the aid provided. Men should therefore not replace women in humanitarian staff and projects’ teams. We would welcome more information on how UNHCR and its implementing partners will ensure, and monitor, on a local basis, the meaningful participation of women and follow-up on this unified donor position in concrete terms.

4.         The EU and its Member States remain committed to a comprehensive regional response for Afghan refugees, including through the Solutions Strategy for Afghan Refugees (SSAR), its Support Platform, and our regional Team Europe Initiative. We thank Pakistan and Iran for their continuous generosity in hosting millions of forcibly displaced Afghans, despite facing their own national challenges. We acknowledge in particular the decision by Iran to extend its inclusive health and education policies to Afghan refugees. We encourage access to protection also for newly displaced Afghans. Going forward, you can count on our continuous engagement.

5.         Two years after the military coup in Myanmar, the humanitarian situation continues to deteriorate with a dramatic increase in humanitarian needs across the country. As stated by EU High Representative/Vice President Josep Borrell on the occasion of the second anniversary of the military take-over, we reiterate our call on the military authorities to immediately stop the hostilities and indiscriminate use of force, to fully respect and ensure the respect of international humanitarian law, and ensure rapid, safe and unhindered humanitarian access to all displaced persons and people in need, in all parts of the country. We stand with the people of Myanmar and continue to provide humanitarian assistance to address basic needs and build societal resilience. The Humanitarian-Development-Peace Nexus remains at the core of the EU’s approach in Myanmar. The EU and its Member States will continue to provide humanitarian assistance through UNHCR in accordance with the principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality, and independence. We fully support ASEAN’s and the UN´s efforts to help Myanmar to find a peaceful solution in line with the UN Security Council’s Resolution 2669. Given that solutions go hand in hand with protection, we would welcome more information on how UNHCR will further strengthen its engagement with host countries, ASEAN and other regional actors, including to promote cross-border assistance.

6.         In Bangladesh, the EU and its Member States appreciate UNHCR’s crucial work and good collaboration on the Rohingya refugee response. We express our great appreciation to the Government of Bangladesh, who plays a central role in generously hosting and assisting Rohingya refugees. We reiterate our support to the Joint Response Plan, launched today, which will allow an efficient and swift implementation of all humanitarian and development programmes in support of Rohingya refugees and host communities. In this context, more timely reporting and prioritization could help to attract much needed additional funding for this protracted crisis, particularly from new and development donors. We would appreciate clarification from UNHCR on how it intends to continue strengthening prioritization and how it sees the current streamlining and rationalization exercise going forward .

7.         Regarding the situation of the Rohingya people in the waters of the Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea, the EU and its Member State deplore the tragic loss of lives. We support UNHCR’s call for conducting search and rescue operations and finding a solution for their safe disembarkation. We also command the efforts made by Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand – including local authorities – in order to expand access to basic services and protection, with UNHCR’s guidance.

Thank you.