Mihoko Kumamoto, director of the UNITAR Hiroshima office, is seen during an online interview. (Mainichi)

       HIROSHIMA -- As the Taliban has swooped back into control of Afghanistan, staff at a United Nations agency here that has been training Afghans in reconstruction for the last 18 years is watching and wondering what will be in store for the country.

       "I thought the Taliban would regain power once the U.S. withdrew, but I didn't expect them to take over so quickly," said Mihoko Kumamoto, director of the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) Hiroshima office.

       The Hiroshima office is supporting Afghanistan and other countries that are recovering from conflict through human resource development training and other programs that take advantage of the city's own unique recovery, from the atomic bombing.

       This photo shows a training program held in Hiroshima in 2018. Afghans and other participants listened to the testimony of Keiko Ogura, an A-bomb survivor. (Photo courtesy of the UNITAR Hiroshima office)

       The office opened in July 2003, after the Taliban regime had collapsed in the face of a U.S.-led invasion after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Immediately after it opened, the office started a training program for Afghan civil servants and diplomats with the aim of "recovering from conflict."

       In recent years, the organization has also focused on programs for local women who have been oppressed by the Taliban regime. There are two Afghan staff members, and in addition to leadership training, a digital training program got underway this fiscal year to teach them how to use computers.

       Ethnically diverse Afghanistan fell into civil war after the former Soviet Union's 1979 military intervention in the country. Since then, the people of Afghanistan have lived with constant warfare, including the last 20-year conflict triggered by 9/11.

       Kumamoto, who has been visiting Afghanistan almost every year, pointed out that "the younger generation has never seen a peaceful country."

       Of the approximately 3,200 trainees to have gone through the agency's programs so far, about 730 studied in Hiroshima. Looking out of the office window, people can see the Atomic Bomb Dome and modern buildings behind it. According to Kumamoto, the trainees were all impressed by this sight.

       A training course for Afghans and others held in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, is seen in 2013. (Photo courtesy of the UNITAR Hiroshima office)

       Looking at the A-Bomb Dome, which conveys the memory of a city devastated by the atomic bomb, and then the rows of postwar buildings that remind one of the city's subsequent resurrection, they apparently see a ray of hope that their country will one day enjoy peace and achieve reconstruction.

       "For the Japanese, Hiroshima is an A-bombed city that is in itself a statement about the preciousness of peace. But for Afghans, Hiroshima is a 'city of hope' that has recovered from the devastation of the atomic bombing," Kumamoto said.

       The director does not believe that the UNITAR Hiroshima Office's 18 years of work will be in vain, despite the Taliban's takeover. However, she fears the varied impact that the change in the country's leadership is likely to cause.

       Where is the Taliban trying to lead the people of Afghanistan? "We have to keep a close watch on the situation, while continuing to seek respect for human rights," said Kumamoto.

       (Japanese original by Isamu Gari, Hiroshima Bureau)

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