Afghanistan’s Future

Translated from the Norwegian

This year we are seeing a renewed effort to get Afghanistan back on its feet. The aim is to enable Afghan politicians to govern the country themselves. This will not be possible without security, a properly functioning political system and real social and economic development.

The ISAF troop-contributing nations agreed on the Comprehensive Political-Military Strategic Plan for Afghanistan at the NATO summit in Bucharest in April. Tomorrow, ministers from more than 60 countries and the heads of some 20 international organisations will meet in Paris to discuss support for the Afghan National Development Strategy.

This signals a new coordinated effort. The launch of the strategy is the culmination of a two-year long process, during which Afghans all over the country have helped to determine how their local communities should develop. In other words, this is the Afghan people’s own strategy for how the country – one of the poorest and most severely damaged in the world – can rise up again after decades of war.

It is easy to find examples of how bad things are in Afghanistan, and it is such reports that tend to dominate the media.  But it is also becoming increasingly easy to find examples of positive developments: from bad to good, and from good to even better. We seem to forget what Afghanistan was like at the time of the Taliban’s fall, but if we take this as our point of comparison, we see just how much progress has actually been made. For the first time, the country has a democratically elected president and a national assembly. New elections are to be held in this young and fragile democracy in 2009 and 2010, and the UN needs to play a key role in ensuring that they proceed as they should.

For the record, the following achievements have been made over the last six years:

• 85% of the population now has access to basic health services;
• development projects have been initiated in 32 000 villages;
• 3 million Afghans are linked up to water and sanitation projects;
• almost 8 million mines and explosives have been cleared from areas frequented by people;
• 13 000 kilometres of road have been built or repaired; and
• there has been an economic growth of 70%, although many people have not benefited from this, and many still suffer great economic hardship.

While the coordination of civilian and military efforts has produced results, the country still needs further assistance. If we are to help Afghans to govern in a way that enables the country to play a normal role in the international community, it is vital – as we have learned from our longstanding experience of development cooperation – to give priority to their own development strategy. We must also strengthen the political partnership between Afghanistan, the UN and the various donor countries.

Norway is one of Afghanistan’s most important partners. Today, Afghanistan is – together with Sudan and the Palestinian Authority – the largest recipient of Norwegian development funds. We have decided to increase our civilian assistance to NOK 750 million for this year, and in Paris tomorrow I will announce, on behalf of the Government, that Norway intends to maintain this level of support for the next five years. Clear commitments are needed if we are to contribute to a long-term perspective in development efforts in the country.

Together with the other Nordic countries, we have established an action plan for coordinating our efforts in Afghanistan. Efforts to improve governance with a view to fighting corruption will be one of our priorities. Another will be efforts to build a state governed by the rule of law that respects human rights and supports the participation of women in political and economic life. And a third will be support for the forthcoming presidential and parliamentary elections.

It is a positive step forward that the UN now has a strong coordinating role and can better ensure that outside help is targeted in the best possible way for the benefit of ordinary Afghan people. This has been an important goal for Norway over the last two years, and our efforts have borne fruit. Kai Eide has been called from his position in the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs to take on the crucial role of the UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative in Afghanistan. He enjoys strong support from Afghan leaders as well as from key countries in the international community. We will give him our full support, and will seek to ensure that he and the UN succeed.

However, our support for Afghanistan is not unconditional. The strategy must now be translated into action. With our extensive engagement, we are in a position to set requirements for Afghanistan and other donor countries, with a view to securing development, democracy and human rights. The Afghan authorities have to follow up in a credible and decisive manner.

I would particularly like to mention human rights, which continues to be a major challenge. Afghanistan has signed the UN human rights conventions. The death sentence passed on the Afghan journalist Sayed Perwiz Kambakhsh has attracted a great deal of attention. This is a very serious case, and we are following it closely. We must keep human rights continually in focus, at the same time as we must exercise patience. It took a long time for the countries in Europe to develop the political system we have today. We can best support Afghanistan by maintaining our commitment, exerting pressure when violations of human rights are reported, and taking a long-term approach in our efforts to support the development of the judiciary and the police.

The security situation is difficult. Military efforts are still needed. ISAF is in Afghanistan on behalf of the UN and at the invitation of a legally elected Afghan Government that welcomes our presence. NATO’s further strategy focuses on long-term engagement, a holistic approach, Afghan ownership and regional perspective. Progress is being made. This summer, already, it will be possible to transfer greater responsibility to Afghan forces in Kabul. This is an important signal that Afghan capacity is rapidly being built up, and that NATO wishes to transfer control. However, a great deal still remains to be done, and there may well be setbacks before the Afghans are able to take prime responsibility for the country as a whole. Afghan forces have legitimacy among the population and have good prospects of becoming a well-functioning army. But as is the case with other sectors, the army depends on civilian development and better governance in the country for success.
For some time, Norway has advocated a change of pace in the international efforts in Afghanistan, and has won broad support for this in the international community. I hope and believe that the conference in Paris will spark a new drive in this joint project, which much of the world is engaged in.

A subject that will not be in focus in Paris is the border situation with Pakistan. The armed conflict on both sides of the border is being allowed to continue almost unhindered. This is unacceptable, and underlines the importance of engaging the neighbouring countries in the region. Without them it will not be possible to build lasting peace.