We MUST Hold Duty Bearer Accountable to Promises Made: Women's Rights Will Not Be Traded for Political Expediency

UK Minister David Milliband speaks at the Davos Debates on the London Conference and the importance of women as a central tenant to the political equation in Afghanistan.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9JqwFRCTKOM&feature=featured

British Foreign & Commonwealth Office summary of the Afghan Women's activity at the London Conference:

The women of Afghanistan articulated a serious concern that reconciliation with the Taliban would have a negative impact on women's rights in Afghanistan.

The Afghan women arrived with BBC's Lyse Doucet and positioned themselves in the media tent. At the press conference, Miliband, Spanta, and Kai Eide answered their question/concern with a firm answer that the Taliban are only offered reconciliation on the basis that they agree to work with the Afghan Constitution, and the words written within it that guarantee women's rights and equal participation.

U.S. Secretary of State Clinton: 'Women have to be involved at every step of the way'

'I also believe very strongly, as is apparent in what I say about this issue, that women have to be involved at every step of the way in this process. To that end, I unveiled our Women’s Action Plan. It includes initiatives focused on women’s security, women’s leadership in the public and private sector; women’s access to judicial institutions, education, and health services; women’s ability to take advantage of economic opportunities, especially in the agricultural sector. This is a comprehensive, forward-looking agenda that stands in stark contrast to al-Qaida’s recently announced agenda for Afghanistan’s women, attempting to send female suicide bombers to the West.'

For full transcrpit of Secretary of State Clinton's remarks at the London Confernece go to, http://still4hill.wordpress.com/2010/01/28/3245/

We Demand: “the status of women [must] not [be] bargained away in any short-term effort to achieve stability”.

Negotiating with the Taliban: the view from below

http://www.opendemocracy.net/5050/deniz-kandiyoti/negotiating-with-taliban-view-from-below

Deniz Kandiyoti, 29 January 2010

While the only official woman delegate in the Afghan mission to the London Conference pleaded that women’s rights must not be sacrificed on the altar of security concerns, women’s rights activists who had also travelled to London brought their own message.

At the conclusion of a gathering of nearly 70 countries and representatives of the international donor community in London on February 28, negotiations with the Taliban are firmly on the agenda, discussions revolving around the best way of achieving a peace settlement. Both President Karzai, in need of shoring up his shaky legitimacy, and the international powers, seeking an exit option from their costly military entanglement in Afghanistan, appear united on the principle if not the modalities of these negotiations. A two-pronged strategy of simultaneous military surge and meditation and talks for peace and a more inclusive political settlement are now on the table.

What will the implications of these new directions be for ordinary men and women of Afghanistan? How will the interests of civil society - national and international - be represented in this process? What of human rights and, more specifically, women's rights to which the international community had made vocal commitments in the aftermath of the Bonn conference in 2001? These were some of the questions raised on January 26 at a conference titled “An Alternative View: Afghan Perspectives on Development and Security” which aimed “to ensure that the needs of the Afghan people remain forefront on the international community’s agenda”.

Lakhdar Brahimi, former UN Special Representative to UNAMA (2001-2004) offered a candid critique of past errors; the lack of representativeness of the Bonn process in 2001, the failure to expand ISAF forces outside Kabul at a point in time when it could have made a real difference and UNAMA choosing to politely ignore the reality of Operation Enduring Freedom, a counter terrorism operation at cross-purposes with the objectives of state-building. The unresolved issue of transitional justice - the failure to bring the past perpetrators of war crimes to justice - hung heavily in the air. Had justice been traded for peace in the post-Bonn settlement, finally achieving neither justice nor peace? Could the same errors be repeated again?

The increasing militarization of aid and its perverse consequences for effective, needs-based aid delivery dominated the concerns of civil society representatives. Why was it that the most insecure provinces, least able to absorb aid, received a disproportionate share of the resources while the poorest regions were being ignored? Did Provincial Reconstruction Teams (PRTs) imperil the work of civilian providers of aid through their connection with the military who are held accountable for the loss of civilian lives? Was aid increasingly being used as a tool of counter-insurgency? If so, does the assumption that aid contributes to peace building and counterinsurgency hold any water? The injection of aid can be shown, some argued, to have destabilizing effects when it provides incentives for noxious elites who have a stake in instability, undermining the goals of both counterinsurgency and development. Kai Eide, UN Special Representative to UNAMA warned that the current troop surge and larger military budgetary allocations would only accentuate what he called “the QIP impulse” - the tendency to pilfer money through so-called “quick impact projects” meant to win “hearts and minds”- and divert resources from bottom-up projects, conceived through proper consultation with the grass roots and geared to meeting people’s perceived needs. Civil society and the NGO community could play a critical role in meeting these needs, but could they be sheltered from pressures to pursue military objectives?

Dr. Hazrat- Omar Zakhilwal, Minister of Finance and Chief Economic Advisor to the President, complained that only 20% of total aid (10% of which was earmarked for specific projects) was channelled through the government and that aid had not assisted the state-building process. However, alongside the mismanagement and ineffectiveness of international aid, grave concerns were also expressed over widespread corruption, nepotism and lack of accountability at all levels, an expensive and ineffective justice system biased against the most powerless, lack of security, lack of progress in governance reforms and limited success in socio-economic development. This resulted in high levels of distrust between the population and the government, feeding the existing tendency to look for local solutions to the provision of public goods such as justice and security.

The possible social implications of the “reconciliation” process were uppermost in the minds of representatives of human rights and women’s rights organizations. Would compliance with international standard setting human rights instruments be upheld? What would the consequences for women’s rights be? Arezo Qanih, the only official woman delegate to the London Conference (in a 63-strong Afghan mission) made a plea that women’s rights should not to be sacrificed at the altar of security concerns. She invited the government and international community to honour their commitments to the goals of the Afghanistan National Development Strategy (ANDS), to develop a strategy for the implementation of the National Action Plan for the Women of Afghanistan (NAPWA) and to respect international agreements. Kabul MP, Shinkai Karokhail, chairperson of Afghan women parliamentarians, pointed out that the goal of accountable and sustainable development could not be attained without investing in women’s needs and addressing their concerns.

In written statements, press conferences, presentations to Parliament and to the London Conference the group of women’s rights activists who travelled to London articulated their common platform. They explicitly asked that “the status of women is not bargained away in any short-term effort to achieve stability”. They also demanded that women constitute at least 25% of any peace process, including upcoming peace jirgas, in line with existing constitutional guarantees for women’s representation. International donors and the government were held to account over the implementation of the National Action Plan for the Women of Afghanistan (NAPWA), the gender component of the Afghan National Development Strategy (ANDS), governance reforms for gender equality and the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1325- endeavours initially backed by international donors, now at risk of being sidelined and ignored.

What are the prospects of these demands getting a hearing? BBC’s Today programme featured an interview on 27 January with one of the women’s rights activists from Afghanistan who expressed some of her concerns about the reconciliation process. She was asked whether she thought that abuses against women in Afghanistan had anything to do with the Taliban or whether they merely expressed aspects of Afghan culture. This apparently innocuous query has a depressing ring for many women’s rights activists who have seen their concerns systematically hijacked and their voices silenced for decades. When the mujahidin were in alliance with Western powers in the fight against the Soviet Union and in the subsequent period of civil war, their human rights abuses, including horrendous instances of gender-based violence, were largely passed over in silence. Yet these were the conditions that eventually paved the way for the Taliban victory and take-over. When Operation Enduring Freedom was launched in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 attacks, the plight of women in Afghanistan was invoked as a humanitarian crisis justifying military intervention. Not only were the Taliban demonized, but a donor-funded infrastructure of mechanisms and institutions was put in place to secure gender justice and equality. It was clear from the start that the political buy-in for these measures was shallow - the passage of the Shi'i Personal Status Code through Parliament amply illustrates this point - and that the constituencies rallying around these policies had a very weak hand to play and were at constant risk of intimidation and retribution.

Will the women of Afghanistan now have to brace themselves to hear Western powers inviting them to find virtue in their culture in the shape of new policies more acceptable to negotiating partners in the reconciliation process? Or will international donors merely treat their earlier commitments as misguided policies that are best forgotten? As a critic of the ways in which some of these policies were implemented, I nonetheless believe that the international community should accept responsibility for their consequences. The women of Afghanistan, of whatever political persuasion, are entitled to their own voices. This they continue to be denied.

BBC News - Fox, Hutton and Frogh debate Afghanistan, human rights and the Taliban

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/the_daily_politics/8485318.stm

The Afghan people are not asking for a quick exit strategy. Good governance and poverty eradication through a framework of inclusion and human rights - a sustained long term strategy for Afghanistan.

Afghan Women Civil Society Leaders React to the London Conference

Reaction from Afghan women civil society leaders to the Communiqué of the London Conference on Afghanistan

January 29, 2010

Background to women’s engagement in The London Conference on Afghanistan

The London Conference on Afghanistan on January 28th on security, governance, and regional cooperation concluded with important decisions on how to resolve Afghanistan’s conflict and governance challenges. Women of Afghanistan will be profoundly affected by these decisions, yet Afghan women were provided no official designation to feed into decisions nor negotiate conclusions In an event that spanned an entire day and included more than 70 countries, only a single Afghan woman was included to speak as part of the official agenda, co-presenting the concerns of Afghan civil society. Only through the help of BAAG in coordination with ACBAR, was she provided a few extra moments to also present a distinct message from the women of Afghanistan on their priorities for the future of the country to the assembled foreign ministers, military representatives, and other participants.

Afghan women will not be silent nor made to be invisible.

The Afghan Women’s Network supported extensive consultations with Afghan women leaders preceding the London Conference and then provided for four Afghan women civil society leaders to travel to London during the conference proceedings to present women’s perspectives on security, governance, and regional cooperation. The result was a package of concrete recommendations, presented as the statement to the London Conference.

This statement sets out Afghan women’s demand that the proposed reintegration process is not undertaken at the expense of women’s hard-won human rights. It stresses the need to ensure meaningful representation of women in any negotiations and in all governance reform initiatives. It underscores the centrality of women to deepening democracy, combating corruption, and brining peace and stability to the country. The full statement and recommendations are available on www.artworksprojects.org/afghanistan.

While in London, the delegates used every possible opportunity to spread the message of Afghan women to official delegates to the conference, including foreign ministers, office of Ambassador Richard Holbrooke, SRSG to Afghanistan Kai Eide, UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown, and President of Afghanistan Hamid Karzai. Their message was picked up by media throughout the world. Personally invited to the press conference of U.S. Secretary of State Hilary Clinton, they were singularly recognized at the event by the Secretary for their courage and commitment to human rights.

Reactions to the Final Outcome Communiqué of The London Conference

The final communiqué of the London Conference clearly reflects the advocacy efforts of the Afghan women who traveled to London, and the document includes central priorities of the women of Afghanistan they were charged to represent. This accomplishment is recognized not only for the commitment of Afghan women, but also that of the Afghan government and its international partners to ensure that human rights must be at the heart of any efforts to seek a political solution to the conflict through negotiations and incentive packages directed to the Taliban. The women of Afghanistan endorse this provision and strongly recommend a rigorous monitoring system accompany any reintegration scheme to ensure women’s rights are not violated and that any such violation are aggressively and swiftly addressed as a national security concern.

Also warmly welcomed in the communiqué is the commitment to fully implement the National Action Plan for Women of Afghanistan and the newly signed Elimination of Violence Against Women Law. Additionally applauded is the renewal of 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, To make these promises reality, the women of Afghanistan call on public decision makers to immediately develop a concrete strategy with meaningful affirmative action policies. Our more specific reactions to the official communiqué include the following recommendations:

On Security

- The phased growth and expansion of the Afghan National Army and the Afghan National Police must be accompanied by efforts to ensure the security forces have the protection of women as one of their main functions. This can be enhanced through recruitment of more women in all security sectors, investment in Family Response Units, and training for the security forces and the justice sector on the Elimination of Violence Against Women Law.
- The Government of Afghanistan’s commitment to continue development of a National Security Strategy must be consistent with UN Security Council resolutions 1325, 1820, 1888 and 1889. A National Action Plan on Women peace and security should be integrated as a core element of the national security policy, and a quota of women’s representation in all peace and security deliberations be established.
- Women should be consulted by and represented by the authorities developing the national Peace and Reintegration Programme. The proposed Peace and Reintegration Trust Fund to finance
the Afghan-led Peace and Reintegration Programme should ensure that a proportion of the financial incentives to communities to support reintegration are used to support women’s empowerment and development and the protection of their human rights through rigorous monitoring and redress.
- A specific proportion of international donor assistance to be channeled through multi donor trust funds such as The Afghanistan Reconstruction Trust Fund and the Law and Order Trust Fund for Afghanistan should be devoted to addressing women’s specific needs in the areas of reconstruction, rule of law, and access to formal justice.

In Governance:

- Women should be engaged in consultation to develop an overall plan for more effective and accountable national civilian institutions, including the civil service and the police.
- The training for 12,000 sub-national civil servants at the subnational levels should include skills building in analyzing and responding to women’s development and security needs. Affirmative action policies should be developed to ensure a significant portion of sub-national-level civil servants are women.
- The proposals for a new national policy on relations between the formal justice system and traditional dispute resolution councils must be treated as an opportunity to ensure that women’s constitutional rights are protected in any judicial or dispute resolution systems with an emphasiz on investing funds on the formal justice system
- Women must be centrally involved in all anti-corruption efforts to ensure that the specific forms of corruption that afflict them are addressed.

Next steps:

A clear agenda was established at the London Conference, including the announcement of an Af-Pak Peace Jirga, a Loya Peace Jirga, and the Kabul Conference. Each of these events provides opportunity for the Government of Afghanistan and its international partners to demonstrate the commitment articulated at the London Conference that reconciliation and reintegration will not take place at the expense of human rights and that women are central to bringing peace and stability to their country . Women must be fully represented at every stage of planning for these events and must be included at decision-making levels at the events themselves. In the months ahead, the Afghan Women’s Network will hold national consultations to prepare the women to participate and to be sure their perspectives are adequately represented in any decisions. We, the women of Afghanistan, are committed to working alongside the Government of Afghanistan and the international community to bring peace and prosperity to our beloved country and all of its people. We stand as full partners for the future of Afghanistan.

We extend our deep gratitude to international supporters who made this opportunity possible for the women of Afghanistan, in particular the United Nations Development Fund for Women, the Initiative for Inclusive Security, BAAG and ACBAR.

Afghan Women Civil Society Leaders Recognised at the London Conference

London Conference Committs to Upholding Afghan Women's Human Rights

http://afghanistan.hmg.gov.uk/en/conference/communique/

Communiqué

Afghan Leadership, Regional Cooperation, International Partnership

1. The Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and the international community met today in London to renew their mutual commitment towards helping Afghanistan emerge as a secure, prosperous, and democratic nation. Today’s Conference represents a decisive step towards greater Afghan leadership to secure, stabilise and develop Afghanistan. The international community underlined its support for the Government of Afghanistan and its security, development and governance.

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.