KABUL, Thursday 15 August - On the third anniversary of the NATO withdrawal, the CEO of the HALO Trust, the internationally renowned landmine charity championed by Princess Diana, has urged governments to engage with the authorities in Afghanistan to address the country’s dire humanitarian crisis.
Speaking from Afghanistan where he is visiting minefields cleared by HALO, Major General (Retired) James Cowan said: “NATO left Afghanistan three years ago today. But The HALO Trust stayed and by doing so has saved thousands of lives and livelihoods. During this time, we have served as a bridge between the West and Kabul. Today we are calling for that bridge to be bolstered with more diplomatic engagement from western countries.”
According to the United Nations, an estimated 23.7m people—more than half of Afghanistan’s population require humanitarian assistance. So far this year, the UN has received $764m in aid for Afghanistan—just 25 per cent of the $3bn requested.
Prior to becoming CEO of HALO in 2015, General Cowan was a senior British army officer who commanded British troops in Helmand from 2009 to 2010.
“Despite the legitimate concerns of many states about the Taliban, we cannot continue with extreme isolation. There is a clear need for a middle ground, so that officials can administer the aid desperately needed to stabilise Afghanistan. Hunger and poverty will rapidly breed radicalisation, which would have consequences beyond Afghanistan’s borders.”
The HALO Trust was founded in Afghanistan by two former British army officers in 1988, and it has worked under every administration in Kabul since. Half a century of modern-day conflict has left a wide variety of weapons and bombs scattered across the country.
HALO has cleared almost 1,400 km sq of contaminated land in the country—the equivalent of 22,000 football pitches—but it is increasingly clearing large numbers of Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs). Some of these—which typically consist of jerry cans filled with fertiliser—were laid by the Taliban to attack the former American-led forces. Former fighters have assisted HALO by identifying where IEDs were laid.
Cowan also called for more funding to accelerate the clearance of landmines and IEDs and conduct a comprehensive nationwide survey of landmine and munition contamination:
“The cessation of conflict has opened up access to new areas of the country for HALO, but a complete understanding of the problem will only be possible if the country is comprehensively surveyed and mapped. An additional $8-10m funding per year for five years would allow us to employ 4,000 Afghan deminers to conduct a national survey and rid Afghanistan of unexploded ordnance for good.”
Cowan continued:
“As a former commander of British forces in Helmand who now leads a global charity, it is hard to see the people of Afghanistan suffer when much more could be done to help the country recover. History will not judge us kindly if we abandon the Afghan people now.”
NOTES TO EDITORS:
The HALO Trust is the world’s oldest humanitarian mine clearance organisation. It employs 12,000 women and men in over 30 countries in landmine and munition clearance, risk education and weapons and ammunition storage and has cleared over 2million landmines worldwide
In line with the US and EU, the UK Government acknowledges that there is “no alternative to engaging pragmatically with the current administration of Afghanistan”. The FCDO retains a UK Mission to Afghanistan in Doha, through which regular engagement with Taliban officials takes place.
