name: United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan 
text: UNAMA was established on March 28, 2002 through United Nations Security Council resolution 1401. Its original mandate was aimed at supporting the process of rebuilding and national reconciliation outlined in the Bonn Agreement of December 2001. Today, Afghanistan has moved on from the Bonn Process and the Missionâ€™s work has adapted accordingly. As of 23rd March 2006 UNAMAâ€™s mandate, which is renewed annually, contains six main elements. These are: providing political and strategic advice for the peace process; providing good offices; assisting Afghanistanâ€™s government towards implementation of the Afghanistan Compact; promoting human rights; providing technical assistance; and continuing to manage all UN humanitarian relief, recovery, reconstruction and development activities in coordination with the government. 
  
  Afghanistan was admitted as a member of the United Nations on 19th November 1946 and its relationship with the UN thus goes back some 60 years. Many of the major UN agencies work in Afghanistan with Afghan counterparts and with national and international NGO partners. All UN programmes recognize the lead role played by the Afghan Government. 
  
  UNAMA is a Political Mission, directed and supported by the UNâ€™s Department of Peacekeeping Operations. It has some 1000 staff, the vast majority of whom (around 80 percent) are Afghan nationals. Its main office is in Kabul, with eight regional offices around the country and several sub offices. In addition, it has two liaison offices, in Islamabad and Tehran.
  
  The Mission is headed by Tom Koenigs, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Afghanistan (SRSG), who has overall responsibility for all UN activities in the country. Mr. Koenigs took up his posting in Afghanistan in February 2006. His predecessors in the post are Jean Arnault (Feb. 2004 â€“ Feb. 2006), and prior to that Lakhdar Brahimi.
  
  As an â€˜integratedâ€™ mission, UNAMA has two main pillars, one dealing with development issues, and the other handling political matters. These are headed by the SRSGâ€™s two deputies, Ameerah Haq and Christopher Alexander, respectively. 
  
  Within these pillars, or working directly for the SRSG, are specialists dealing with human rights, rule of law, police, military, gender, drugs, legal issues, as well as a spokesperson who also directs the Missionâ€™s office of communications and public information.
  
  There are a number of guidelines that characterize the work of UNAMA: all activities of the UN system are coordinated and the programme of work is determined by Afghan needs and priorities; the Mission aims at having as many nationals as possible in posts that traditionally have been occupied by expatriates; capacity-building is a cardinal principle and UNAMA works towards the establishment of strong and sustainable Afghan institutions - in that context its ultimate goal is to work itself out of a job.
  
  UNAMAâ€™s priorities include strengthening Afghan institutions and building the capacity of the Afghan Administration at all levels, including the development of institutions of good governance, of law and order, and of security. Emphasis is also given to increasing employment and cash for work schemes, which provide income to families.
  
  http://www.unama-afg.org/