US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton congratulated Dr. Rassoul on his appointment as Minister of Foreign Affairs, and wished him success in his new capacity.
The two-sides also discussed the situation in Afghanistan, Afghanistan-US relations, and the up-coming international conference on Afghanistan, scheduled to convene later this week in London. In addition, Secretary Clinton reaffirmed the United States’ sustained commitment to Afghanistan. Both sides highlighted the up-coming gathering as an important opportunity for a renewed partnership between Afghanistan and the international community.
Germany’s Foreign Minister, Guido Westerwelle, congratulated Foreign Minister Rassoul on his appointment, and reiterated Germany’s continued commitment to Afghanistan for the coming years. The two-sides also conferred on Afghanistan-German bilateral relations and the coming London conference on Afghanistan.
]]>2. At the London Conference, President Hamid Karzai built on commitments set out in his inauguration speech, which articulated clear priorities for stabilising and developing Afghanistan.
3. The international community pledged to maintain its long-term commitment to Afghanistan, as previously set out in the 2001 Bonn Agreement, in the 2002 Tokyo Conference, the 2006 Afghanistan Compact, the 2008 Paris Declaration and the 2009 The Hague Conference Declaration. The international community re-affirmed its support for the relevant UN Security Council Resolutions upholding the security, stability and prosperity of Afghanistan and in particular the role of the UN itself in achieving this goal.
4. Conference Participants emphasised that the Afghan Government and the international community are entering into a new phase on the way to full Afghan ownership. Conference Participants re-affirmed the goals of greater Afghan Leadership, increased Regional Cooperation and more effective International Partnership. Together we are committed to make intensive efforts to ensure that the Afghan Government is increasingly able to meet the needs of its people through developing its own institutions and resources.
5. The London Conference will be followed by a conference in Kabul later this year, hosted by the Afghan Government, where it intends to take forward its programme with concrete plans for delivery for the Afghan people. These should be based on democratic accountability, equality, human rights, gender equality, good governance and more effective provision of government services, economic growth, as well as a common desire to live in peace under the Afghan Constitution. We remain convinced that together we will succeed.
6. The challenges in Afghanistan particularly in political, economic, development and security areas are significant and inter-related. It is in our shared interest to overcome them and we re-affirmed our commitment to doing so. The nature of international engagement in Afghanistan continues to evolve, in favour of increasingly supporting Afghan leadership in the areas of security, development, governance and economic assistance.
Security
7. Conference Participants expressed gratitude to Afghan citizens, Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF), and to those nations whose citizens and military personnel have served in Afghanistan. Conference Participants expressed their sorrow for all those who have made the ultimate sacrifice for a secure and stable Afghanistan. Conference Participants also thanked those countries that have provided transit and related facilities to International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) and the ANSF.
8. Conference Participants reiterated their resolve to combat terrorism, in particular Al Qaeda, and commended Afghan efforts to this end. Conference Participants condemned in the strongest terms all attacks by the Taliban and their extremist allies, including Improvised Explosive Devices, suicide attacks and abductions, targeting civilians, and Afghan and international forces. These attacks undermine stabilisation, reconstruction and development efforts in Afghanistan.
9. Conference Participants noted that most civilian casualties are caused by insurgent attacks. Conference Participants welcomed the determination by ISAF, in partnership with the Afghan Government and ANSF, to continue to do their utmost to protect and further reduce the risk to civilians and jointly to investigate civilian casualties.
10. Conference Participants welcomed the progress made by the Afghan security forces as they increasingly take responsibility for military operations. Conference Participants also welcomed the Government of Afghanistan’s stated goal of the ANSF taking the lead and conducting the majority of operations in the insecure areas of Afghanistan within three years and taking responsibility for physical security within five years. To help realise this, the international community committed to continue to improve the capability and effectiveness of the ANSF. Conference Participants also committed to providing the necessary support to the phased growth and expansion of the Afghan National Army (ANA) and Afghan National Police (ANP) in order to reach 171,600 and 134,000 personnel by October 2011, as approved by the Joint Coordination and Monitoring Board (JCMB) on 20 January 2010. The international community also showed its full support for the continued development and implementation of the National Police Strategy. Beyond this, the Government of Afghanistan and the international community will decide if this is sufficient, based on the prevailing security situation and long term sustainability.
11. Conference Participants welcomed the decision by the North Atlantic Council, in close consultation with non-North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) ISAF partners, in full agreement with the Government of Afghanistan and in accordance with United Nations Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 9762, to develop, by the Kabul Conference, a plan for phased transition to Afghan security lead province by province, including the conditions on which transition will be based. Further to this, Conference Participants welcomed the shared commitment to create the conditions to allow for transition as rapidly as possible. This is with a view to a number of provinces transitioning to ANSF lead, providing conditions are met, by late 2010/early 2011, with ISAF moving to a supporting role within those provinces. Conference Participants welcomed the intention to establish a process among the Government of Afghanistan, ISAF and other key international partners to assess progress and monitor in areas other than security that influence transition.
12. Conference Participants welcomed:
ISAF’s increased focus on partnering ANSF and the principle that Afghan forces should progressively assume the leading role in all stages of operations;
the Government of Afghanistan’s determination to assume greater responsibility for detentions, in keeping with the growth of Afghan capacity, in accordance with international standards and applicable national and international law;
the contribution the NATO Training Mission-Afghanistan (NTM-A) is making towards the growth and expansion of the ANSF and urged the international community to meet outstanding requirements for trainers and mentoring teams, and to continue efforts in this respect;
the contribution made by EUPOL to monitoring, mentoring and advising the Ministry of Interior and supporting national and provincial level Afghan-led police reform and urged partners to reinforce and provide logistical support to EUPOL, especially in the provinces;
bilateral support to the ANSF from a range of countries and urged the international community to coordinate closely in this work with the NTM-A and EUPOL, including through the International Police Coordination Board (IPCB);
the Government of Afghanistan’s commitment to continue development of a National Security Strategy with the support of the international community; and
the Government of Afghanistan’s commitment to devise and implement a National Security Policy, which is to be presented at the Kabul Conference and which outlines the security infrastructure and roles and responsibilities of the different security agencies.
13. In the context of a comprehensive, Afghan-led approach, Conference Participants reinforced the need for an effective and enduring framework to create and consolidate a stable and secure environment in which Afghan men and women of all backgrounds and perspectives can contribute to the reconstruction of their country. In this context, Conference Participants welcomed the plans of the Government of Afghanistan to offer an honourable place in society to those willing to renounce violence, participate in the free and open society and respect the principles that are enshrined in the Afghan constitution, cut ties with Al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups, and pursue their political goals peacefully.
14. Conference Participants welcomed:
the Government of Afghanistan’s commitment to reinvigorate Afghan-led reintegration efforts by developing and implementing an effective, inclusive, transparent and sustainable national Peace and Reintegration Programme;
plans to convene a Grand Peace Jirga before the Kabul Conference; and
the international community’s commitment to establish a Peace and Reintegration Trust Fund to finance the Afghan-led Peace and Reintegration Programme. Conference Participants welcomed pledges to the Trust Fund and encouraged all those who wish to support peace-building and stabilisation efforts in Afghanistan to contribute to this important initiative.
15. Conference Participants recognised the seriousness of the humanitarian situation in different areas of the country, particularly food insecurity. Conference Participants invited the international community to support the 2010 Humanitarian Action Plan.
Development and governance
16. Afghanistan faces formidable development challenges, which require sustained, long-term support from the international community. A better coordinated and resourced civilian effort is critical to overcoming these challenges. Economic growth, respect for Rule of Law and human rights alongside creation of employment opportunities, and good governance for all Afghans are also critical to counter the appeal of the insurgency, as well as being vital to greater stability in Afghanistan.
17. The international community noted the progress that the Afghan Government has made on economic development, including reaching the completion point under the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Initiative, which will provide Afghanistan with up to $1.6 billion in debt relief from major creditors. This takes total debt relief to around $11 billion. Conference Participants agreed that the priority, as established by the Government of Afghanistan, is accelerated progress on agriculture, human resources development and infrastructure, and to ensure these are underpinned by expanded capacity and structural reforms. Conference Participants looked forward to the new economic development plan, and to the start of discussions on a new Afghan-led IMF programme and to continued IMF in-country engagement.
18. Conference Participants welcomed the Government of Afghanistan’s commitment to assume increasing financial responsibility for its own affairs, and underlined that critical reforms were needed to maximise domestic earnings, with a view to attaining fiscal sustainability over time, including:
increasing tax and customs revenues;
restructuring public enterprises in order to ensure greater accountability and efficiency; and
pursuing the Road Map of the 2007 Enabling Environment Conference as reflected in the ANDS;
continuing regulatory reforms including implementation of the new mining regulations and bearing in mind Afghanistan’s current commitments under the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative.
19. Conference Participants welcomed:
the Government of Afghanistan’s plans for more coherent and better coordinated development. This involves aligning key ministries into development and governance clusters and refining the Afghan National Development Strategy development priorities, in particular infrastructure, rural development, human resources development, agriculture and the main areas of governance. It also involves developing a work plan, which should be completed by the Kabul Conference;
Conference Participants supported the ambition of the Government of Afghanistan whereby donors increase the proportion of development aid delivered through the Government of Afghanistan to 50% in the next two years, including through multi donor trust funds that support the Government budget e.g. the Afghanistan Reconstruction Trust Fund and the Law and Order Trust Fund for Afghanistan. But this support is conditional on the Government’s progress in further strengthening public financial management systems, reducing corruption, improving budget execution, developing a financing strategy and Government capacity towards the goal. Conference Participants confirmed their intention to establish a detailed roadmap with the Government of Afghanistan, before the Kabul Conference, and to provide technical assistance to help develop the Government’s capacity to achieve its goal;
The Government of Afghanistan’s plans to implement budgetary reforms, to increase budget execution rates and to take steps to improve domestic revenue collection in parallel with enhancing anti-corruption practices and institutions with the aim of achieving fiscal sustainability.
20. Conference Participants welcomed the Government of Afghanistan’s commitment to develop an overall plan for more effective and accountable national civilian institutions, including the civil service. They welcomed the Government of Afghanistan’s decision to approve the Sub-National Governance Policy and prepare implementing legislation in advance of the Kabul Conference. Conference Participants committed to support the enhancement of sub-national governance through the Government of Afghanistan’s single framework of priority programmes. To facilitate its implementation, the Government of Afghanistan intends to publish the criteria for administrative boundaries. Conference Participants welcomed commitments made by the Government of Afghanistan and urged the international community to provide additional support to train 12,000 sub-national civil servants in core administrative functions in support of provincial and district governors by the end of 2011.
21. Conference Participants acknowledge the Government of Afghanistan’s increasing efforts to implement the National Justice Programme with a view to making more transparent, fair, and accessible provision of justice available to all Afghans equally.
22. Conference Participants commended the Government of Afghanistan’s commitment to improve access to justice and respect for human rights, including through its Justice and Human Rights Programme, political and financial support for the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission, and the adoption and implementation of a new national policy as soon as possible on relations between the formal justice system and dispute resolution councils. The Government of Afghanistan reiterated its commitment to protect and promote the human rights of all Afghan citizens and to make Afghanistan a place where men and women enjoy security, equal rights, and equal opportunities in all spheres of life. Conference Participants also committed to strengthening the role of civil society.
23. Conference Participants welcomed the Government of Afghanistan’s whole-of-government approach to fighting corruption, and its ongoing work to mount a concerted effort to tackle the key drivers of corruption, through development of clear and objective benchmarks and implementation plans, in advance of the Kabul Conference, including but not limited to:
empowering an independent High Office of Oversight to investigate and sanction corrupt officials, and lead the fight against corruption, through decree within one month;
during 2010, establishing a statutory basis for related anti-corruption bodies, including the Major Crimes Task Force and the Anti-Corruption Tribunal, guaranteeing their long-term independence;
enhancing the effectiveness of the senior civil service appointments and vetting process and revising the civil service code. This will include, by the time of the Kabul Conference, identifying the top level civil service appointments;
the intention of the President to issue a decree prohibiting close relatives of Ministers, Ministerial advisers, Members of Parliament, Governors and some Deputy Ministers from serving in customs and revenue collection departments throughout government;
as a priority during 2010, adopting comprehensive legislation agenda to make Afghan laws consistent with the United Nations Convention Against Corruption, including the Anti-Corruption Penal Code, to expand provisions related to asset declaration; and
inviting Afghan and other eminent experts to participate in an independent Ad Hoc Monitoring and Evaluation Mission which will make its first monitoring visit to Afghanistan within three months, develop clear and objective benchmarks for progress and prepare periodic reports on national and international activity for the Afghan President, Parliament and people, as well as the international community.
24. Conference Participants committed to helping the Government of Afghanistan’s anti-corruption efforts by providing assistance to the new institutions and committed to increase the transparency and effectiveness of its own aid in line with the June 2008 Paris Conference Declaration and the United Nations Convention Against Corruption. In particular, Conference Participants agreed to:
work with the proposed anti-corruption bodies to review existing procedures and investigate instances of corruption that involve internationals; and
work with the Government to improve procurement processes, including establishing additional measures to ensure due diligence in international contracting procedures.
25. Conference Participants noted the decision by the Afghan Independent Election Commission to postpone Parliamentary elections until 18 September in accordance with the Afghan Constitution and electoral law. In this regard, Conference Participants welcomed the Government of Afghanistan’s commitment to ensuring the integrity of the 2010 Parliamentary elections and to preventing any irregularities and misconduct. Conference Participants also welcomed the Government of Afghanistan’s commitment to work closely with the UN to build on the lessons learned from the 2009 elections to deliver improvements to the electoral process in 2010 and beyond.
26. The international community welcomed the Government of Afghanistan’s commitment to implement the National Action Plan for Women of Afghanistan and to implement the Elimination of Violence Against Women Law. Conference Participants welcomed the Government of Afghanistan’s commitment to strengthen the participation of women in all Afghan governance institutions including elected and appointed bodies and the civil service.
27. Conference Participants emphasised the pernicious links between the narcotics trade, the insurgency and other criminal activity, including corruption and human trafficking. Conference Participants therefore welcomed:
the recent progress the Government of Afghanistan has made including the 22% reduction in poppy cultivation last year and increase in the number of poppy free provinces from 6 in 2006 to 20 in 2009;
the undertaking by the Government of Afghanistan to update the National Drugs Control Strategy during 2010, which will include targeted programmes of agricultural development and the reduction of poppy cultivation;
the ongoing support of United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the International community to support the Government of Afghanistan to counter this trade;
the continuation of the “Paris-Moscow” process in counter-acting illegal production, consumption and trafficking of narcotics and the elimination of poppy crops, drug laboratories and stores. Also the interception of drug convoys as well as the continuation of consultations on the marking of pre-cursors and greater bilateral regional cooperation; and
the contribution to multilateral anti-narcotics efforts by the Plan of Action of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Members, adopted in March 2009 by the Special Conference on Afghanistan in Moscow.
Regional cooperation/international architecture
28. Conference Participants reaffirmed their support for a stable, secure and democratic Afghanistan, acknowledged Afghanistan’s potential role as a land-bridge between South Asia, Central Asia, the Middle East and the Far East and renewed their pledge to work together actively to this end. Conference Participants underscored that regionally-owned and steered initiatives stood the best chance of success and welcomed a number of recent initiatives that showed the need for neighbouring and regional partners to work constructively together. In this context Conference Participants noted the recent Istanbul Regional Summit on Friendship and Cooperation in the “Heart of Asia” and its Statement. This regional co-operation includes reaffirming the principles of the Good Neighbourly Relations Declaration of 2002, and working actively for:
Afghan sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity;
Non-intervention in Afghanistan’s internal affairs and mutual non-interference;
Afghan-led peace, reintegration and reconciliation efforts;
Ending support wherever it occurs on each other’s territory for illegally-armed groups, parallel structures and illegal financing directed towards destabilising Afghanistan or individual neighbours;
Combating terrorism including but not limited to increased intelligence- sharing, dismantling the logistical, financial and ideological support for terrorist networks and tackling the causes of radicalisation;
Development of trans-regional trade and transit; including work on infrastructure and progress on energy, power transmission lines and transport infrastructure, including railway networks;
Conducive conditions for the return of Afghan refugees; and
Trans-regional co-operation against the narcotics trade.
Supporting people-to-people contact, including interaction and exchanges between the civil society, academia, media and private sector.
29. Conference Participants welcomed the fact that Afghanistan and its regional partners would have opportunities in 2010 to develop and co-ordinate contributions to advance these principles. Conference Participants noted the value of a more coherent and structured approach to individual initiatives. In this respect, Conference Participants welcomed the fact that Afghanistan has invited the relevant regional bodies (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation, Regional Economic Cooperation Conference on Afghanistan, Shanghai Cooperation Organisation and Economic Cooperation Organisation in accordance with their respective mandates) and others including the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) to develop as soon as possible a co-ordinated plan for Afghanistan’s regional engagement. Conference Participants invited the countries, regional organisations and fora concerned to offer regular updates, including at the Kabul Conference.
30. Emphasising the theme of enriching regional cooperation, Conference Participants welcomed the contribution made by specific bilateral and regional projects including that of the OIC on education and tackling radicalisation, the OSCE and the Afghanistan-Pakistan Cooperation Workshop (Dubai Process) on border management. Conference Participants were grateful for the information given by several countries on bilateral initiatives including the Afghanistan-Pakistan Trade and Transit Agreement, on which they welcomed progress achieved and looked forward to a timely conclusion, and the Indonesian programmes for capacity building including technical cooperation in the fields of education, health, agriculture, poverty reduction, renewable energy and small and medium enterprises.
31. Conference Participants recalled that the international community was engaged in Afghanistan in support of the Government of Afghanistan. Until such time as the Government of Afghanistan is able to assume the responsibility, Conference Participants noted with appreciation that UNAMA continues to be the primary international organisation for coordinating international support in line with the UNSCR 1868. Conference Participants welcomed:
the Afghan Government’s presentation of clear priorities;
the international community’s commitment to more effective and properly resourced civilian engagement to support the Afghan Government in order to improve the impact of international civilian assistance;
the international community’s commitment to align its assistance more closely with Afghan priorities, in keeping with Paris Principles on aid effectiveness, thereby increasing Afghan government capacity;
the international community’s intention to work closely with UNAMA to reinvigorate civilian delivery;
the appointment of a new NATO Senior Civilian Representative; and
the decision of the EU to strengthen its presence in Kabul under one single representative.
32. Conference Participants welcomed the decision by the UN Secretary General to appoint Staffan di Mistura; the decision by the NATO Secretary General to appoint Mark Sedwill; and the forthcoming appointment from the European Union (EU) High Representative; and looked forward to their taking up their jobs in the first few months of 2010. Conference Participants invited them to work closely together to ensure closer coordination in Kabul. Furthermore while noting recent improvements in the functioning of the JCMB, Conference Participants invited the co-chairs of the JCMB to recommend to its members additional measures to make the JCMB ever more effective.
33. Conference Participants took the opportunity to thank the incumbents: UN SRSG Kai Eide, NATO SCR Fernando Gentilini and EUSR Ettore Sequi and EC Head of Delegation Hansjörg Kretschmer for their invaluable work and commitment to Afghanistan.
34. We look forward to reviewing mutual progress on commitments at the Kabul Conference later this year.
Today, I will not talk about our collective achievements, which have been considerable and numerous over the past several years. I, rather, would like to take the opportunity to contemplate on a series of issues that are presently of great significance to the people of Afghanistan, as well as to the international community engaged in Afghanistan.
However, before doing so, let me remind us all that the successes of the past eight years would not have been possible without great sacrifices brought forth by the Afghan people and men and women of our partner countries. The people of Afghanistan will not forget these sacrifices. The memory of those Afghan and coalition troops who have lost their lives while fighting terrorism will always remain in our hearts. We pray for them and send our deepest condolences to their families and friends.
Ladies and Gentlemen:
We all recognize the urgency of improving security in Afghanistan. What we should also recognize, however, is the fact that the goal of improving security in Afghanistan cannot be achieved in isolation and without mutual endeavor. This is so, because insecurity in Afghanistan is tied, in many ways to circumstances that exist beyond our borders. Thus, security in Afghanistan needs a broader, more comprehensive approach toward security in the region and the causes that give rise to insecurity. Developing such a broad approach to security will require wider collaboration and cooperation among the countries of the region.
While Afghanistan is moving slowly, but surely, toward the end goals of peace and stability, the success and legitimacy of our collective efforts will depend on building the confidence of the Afghan people. And to win Afghans’ confidence, we need to clearly focus on bringing security to their daily lives, by providing them with the needed protection, justice, employment and good governance. To make our joint efforts successful, we must base our plans and actions on the demands and aspirations of the Afghan people.
I believe the aspirations and demands of the people of Afghanistan, today, can be summarized in four simple words: Afghan Leadership, Afghan Ownership. Eight years into the international coalition’s fight against insurgency, our public and the publics of all countries involved, want to see Afghanistan take solid strides towards ownership of its security and development.
To achieve this noble goal, we should work and make progress along the following six-point framework:
1- Peace, Reconciliation and reintegration:
Moving towards peace, reconciliation and reintegration is what all Afghans agree on. We must reach out to all of our countrymen, especially our disenchanted brothers. To do this, we will establish a National Council for Peace, Reconciliation, and Reintegration, followed by a Grand Peace Jerga.
To make our Peace Program a success, we hope our brother His Majesty King Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz will kindly play a prominent role to guide and assist the peace process. We ask all our neighbors, particularly Pakistan, to support our peace and reconciliation endeavors.
We are looking forward that the international community will set up an Afghan-led trust fund in support of our peace plan.
I concur with the decision made by the U.N. Sanctions Committee to remove the names of some Taliban leaders from the consolidated list. We wish to see more progress in this regard.
We will pursue our peace and reconciliation goals; but let it be known that the rights of Afghan men and women enshrined in our Constitution will never be compromised.
2- Security:
Security remains our highest priority for years to come. With the help of our partners and neighbors, we will continue to take every step needed to achieve this noble goal.
I welcome the support of the US and other partners aimed at augmenting the strength, capability, and leadership of the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF).
During the next 2-3 years, we intend to focus on gradually assuming the responsibility of security in greater parts of our country. This will allow our international partners to eventually move their security forces out of those parts secured by our own forces, while refocusing their efforts on economic development and rebuilding. We will spare no effort and sacrifice to lead security of our country within the next five years.
Ladies and Gentlemen:
Regrettably, civilian casualties continue to be a great concern for the people of Afghanistan. We should put the protection of peoples’ lives and property at the top of our agenda. We should also do our best to minimize the need for nightly raids. Such raids may take place only under special circumstances. The Afghan people demand that such operations are conducted by Afghan forces, in consonance with Afghan laws and values.
We must ensure the monopoly of the Afghan state over the use of force; this cannot be achieved unless we bring the non-state security contractors under control and in line with the laws of Afghanistan.
National sovereignty also requires demonstrating commitment and adherence to justice. Afghanistan wants to work with the US and NATO/ISAF to take charge of all detention centers in Afghanistan. We will create a commission that will review all detentions. This process will be facilitated and completed during the coming months.
3- Good Governance:
Good governance is at the top of our action plan. We will continue to reform our state institutions. We need to strengthen the leadership, management and oversight capabilities of our civil service and our democratic institutions. We should streamline and rationalize our rules, regulations, and procedures, so that government can work smoothly, free of corruption and arbitrary decision-making.
Achieving and sustaining stability in Afghanistan requires the consolidation and coordination of good governance across the village, district, municipality, province and the center. There is no constitutional impediment to the delegation of decision–making to lower levels of governance. However, creating parallel structures and bypassing the center will have perverse implications for good governance.
Reviving and strengthening our traditional institutions of voluntary cooperation and dispute resolution at local level can go along way in improving peoples’ lives. Strengthening our tradition of Jerga will promote healthy communities. Engaging our elders and Ulema in decision-making at all societal levels can lead to speedy and less costly resolution of disputes. Empowerment of local councils makes our development projects more demand-oriented and cost effective.
Our approach to good governance is expanding the reach of the central government to the remotest parts of the county as well as building up systems of governance right up from the village level. We expect the international community to support us in these vital endeavors.
We are looking forward to free and fair parliamentary elections in less than eight months. These elections, scheduled for September, will provide another opportunity for the people of Afghanistan to exercise their right to vote, elect their leaders, and move further down the road of democracy. We expect the IEC to closely work with the United Nations and the civil society to ensure the integrity of the elections and prevent irregularities and misconduct in the process. We have learned our lesson during the last Presidential and Provincial Councils’ election. We hope that international assistance for our parliamentary elections will be impartial, technical, and constructive.
4- Fighting Corruption
There is no doubt that good, functioning institutions are the foundations upon which peaceful, healthy societies are built. The emergence of free and independent media in Afghanistan, together with the evolution of a vast array of civil society organizations, has meant that public demands are more clearly heard and addressed. We are committed to working with these and other institutional pillars of our young democracy to strengthen public voice, transparency, and accountability in the system.
Fighting corruption will be the key focus of my second term in office. My government is committed to fighting corruption with all means possible, including punishing those who commit it and rewarding those who avoid it. Nevertheless, we must make sure that we do not stop at merely fighting symptoms of corruption; rather, we must take decisive action against its root causes. We are currently working on further strengthening the High Office of Anti-Corruption, providing it with better capacity building resources. We will rigorously implement the anti-corruption strategy and provide new powers to the High Office of Oversight.
We are determined to put an end to the culture of impunity as we move along the path of rule-of-law and democracy. We will stridently follow those who break the law and encourage and protect those who assist us in implementing the law.
5- Economic Development:
Improvement in the living conditions of the Afghan people will be a key priority of the government during the coming years. Creating a favorable environment for investment, promoting sustainable economic growth, improving the skill-base of the labor force, and creating more jobs in public and private sectors are among the major goals of our economic policy for this year and beyond.
An integrated plan of development under the direction of ANDS as the foundation for development activities will be presented soon. For the foreseeable future, Afghanistan will continue to depend on external aid for its economic sustenance. Large, long-term investments, along with improved capacity, leadership and coordination are needed to deliver development objectives. More effective, demand-driven technical assistance will better serve our common goal for an enabled Afghanistan. Our supporters should focus their development efforts on education and health, building our irrigation systems, bringing new land under cultivation, improving agricultural productivity, and reviving and expanding our hydro-power plants and electrification as the top development priorities for the next five years.
The government is taking significant steps toward delivering structural reforms to raise more revenue, increase the efficiency of public enterprises, and create a competitive and transparent natural resources sector.
Despite many discussions on the international aid mechanism, more than 80% of aid still bypasses the Afghan government. Large security costs of development projects and unacceptably high profit margins plague reconstruction contracts. Instead of relying on the ineffective aid bureaucracy, new, more efficient approaches are needed to support Afghan priorities and address Afghan needs through direct budget support. We call upon the donor community to take concrete steps toward implementation of the Paris Agreements. We will work hard to transform the Afghan private sector into a real engine of growth during the next five years.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
A unified, predictable aid mechanism, with transparent rules for effectiveness, would have an enormous positive impact on development and reduction of poverty in Afghanistan.
6- Regional Cooperation:
Regional cooperation was and will be a major pillar of our efforts towards peace and stabilization in Afghanistan. We attach very high importance to cooperation in the region in four key areas of common interest, namely, 1) Economic cooperation; 2) cooperation in transit trade; 3) fighting terrorism, drugs and weapons’ smuggling; and 4) enhancing border security. Afghanistan has participated in many regional cooperation forums and indicated its commitment to cooperate on all of these fronts. We are eager to see more tangible results as far as progress in these areas of regional cooperation are concerned.
I believe we have strong and adequate regional platforms and forums that promote cooperation among our neighbors. The centrality of Afghanistan in this region can be used to establish direct links between the secretariats of key regional forums such as SAARC, GCC, SCO, CAREC and ECO. This will provide a new window of opportunity for wider cooperation to combat the spread of terrorism and narcotics and promote durable peace and economic cooperation in the region. It is time to establish an active secretariat for the follow-up of the Kabul Declaration on good neighborhood and to seek specific measures for its implementation. I am greatly thankful to our brother country, the Republic of Turkey, for its persistent efforts to serve as a venue for our trilateral and regional talks.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Eight years ago, Afghanistan and the international community began their journey to help Afghanistan in re-establishing itself as a peaceful and contributing member of the community of nations. Given the enormous challenges in the way of stability and peace in Afghanistan and the implications of an unstable Afghanistan for the region and the world, completing this journey successfully must remain as the highest focus of the international effort. Peace and security in the world is inextricably linked to peace and stability in Afghanistan.
To ensure momentum of our efforts, I invite our friends and partners to the up-coming Kabul Conference in spring of this year.
We, the Afghan people assure you of our commitment and hard work toward reaching our shared vision.
Thank you Honorable Prime Minister Gordon Brown for hosting this conference, and thank you Excellencies for your participation.
Thank you
]]>But, sadly, we are still fighting the Taliban and al-Qaida. What have we not done right that makes us – and the rest of the world – less secure?
After the liberation in 2001, the international community concentrated on Afghanistan alone as the place to tackle extremism and terrorism, while we Afghans argued that our country is not the right place to fight. The war on terror cannot be fought in Afghan villages. Instead, a regional approach was and is needed. It must be concentrated on the sanctuaries of those who train, equip, and motivate the extremists and send them out to hurt us all.
But we were not heard, and regardless of whether that was the result of a lack of knowledge or a lack of will, events have proven us right. Unfortunately, for the past two years, Pakistan has been affected as much or perhaps more than Afghanistan. Almost the entire tribal belt along the Pakistan/Afghanistan border is suffering.
Just as schools were burned in Afghanistan from 2004 onwards, for the past year schools in Pakistan – especially for girls – have been reduced to
ashes, leaving 80,000 children without facilities. Bridges have been blown up, soldiers and police killed; bombs have exploded from Karachi to Lahore to Islamabad. The violence has spread to India as well, with bombings in Gujarat, Bangalore and Delhi.
So the problem is regional, and it concerns institutional support for extremism that incites terrorism. Unless we collectively address the roots of the problem by ending that support, as well as financial support for radicalism in all forms, we will not defeat terrorism.
This has not been properly understood in the West, which has been fighting the symptoms of terrorism, but has failed to attack its underlying causes. Fortunately, today I see signs of recognition of this malaise. And democratic change in Pakistan is good news for Afghans, Pakistani people, and, by extension, many others around the world.
Pakistan’s new president, Asif Ali Zardari, has suffered from terrorism as we have suffered. His wife, Benazir Bhutto, was murdered by terrorists. I visited Pakistan for President Zardari’s inauguration, and for the first time I saw a dim ray of hope. If we can all work together – Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, the United States, and our allies – I see a possibility of moving beyond the days when a government thinks it needs extremism as an instrument of policy. When all governments in the region reject extremism, there will be no place for extremists, and terrorism will wither away.
But this also requires helping those people who, out of desperation, have fallen prey to extremist forces. Last year, I pardoned a 14-year-old boy from the Pakistan tribal area in Waziristan who had come to Afghanistan to blow himself up in a suicide bombing. Only utter hopelessness can drive so young a man to such an act. We must rescue these people by giving them a better future, which only more education and new opportunities can bring.
Desperation and poverty are the tools used by evil forces to raise their terrorist cadres. But that environment will not change if political will is lacking, and if there is no action by the US and the governments of the region to get our economies to create jobs that offer hope.
Moreover, in order to deny terrorists institutional support, we must bring institutional strength to Afghanistan. We must enable Afghans to look after themselves and defend their country, to have a future, to have hope of raising their children.
Recently, I spoke to an Afghan man very close to me. He has a son who works in the Afghan Foreign Office. That young man was born in the US but returned to Afghanistan four years ago. The father asked, “Do you think I should take my son back to the US?” I said, “Why? Let him live here, let him work here, let him be an Afghan.” He said, “Yes, but will he have a future?”
A viable future means security as well as bread. We have started to bring hope by educating young Afghans, but we have not yet succeeded in bringing them a secure life, free from the danger of bombs and aerial bombardment. Only when that happens will the country be secure. And if the two other conditions are fulfilled – removal of political backing for radicalism and help for the desperate – we will have a safer life not only in Afghanistan, but in Pakistan, India, and the rest of the world.
Source: The Guardian
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