Your Excellency President Karzai, Minister Ashraf Ghani, esteemed Ministers of the Transitional Administration of Afghanistan, Distinguished delegates, ladies and gentlemen, it gives me great satisfaction to participate in this Implementation Group meeting today.

Afghanistan has made great strides in the 10 months since the Bonn Agreement was signed. Under able leadership, the first Interim Administration guided the country and prepared the ground for the holding of the Loya Jirga and the establishment of the present Government. The Civil Service and Human Rights Commissions are established, the Constitutional Commission will begin its work next week, and the Judicial Commission will resume its work soon thereafter. I should also add that the goals set out by President Karzai at the Tokyo donor conference last year have also been mostly met.

The Government is solidifying its key structures. The Cabinet meets every week to decide on major policy issues, drawing upon the work of Cabinet sub-committees which meet more frequently. The Ministry of Finance has laid the foundation for accountability in the use of aid. The Government as a whole has demonstrated a commitment to transparent regulatory mechanisms and the use of the private sector to implement policy where appropriate.

Today, the Government is in the midst of implementing a crucial monetary reform. Afghans are exchanging their old currencies for the new Afghani. The UN and other international partners are helping as much as they can. As part of the effort, the Government is also working to revitalize the financial and banking systems throughout the country. This will have a positive impact on economic stability, and help promote national unity and social cohesion.

Yet, more important than any one achievement, is the fact that the government is formulating and supervising its own programmes. At the last meeting of the IG, the operational budget of the government was launched. This time, we see the launch of a development budget, defined by Afghan Ministries. Through a series of national programmes, Ministries will coordinate with aid agencies and donors in an Afghan led policy-making and planning process.

The UN is trying to do its part in these efforts. We are here to support the government and assist where required, flexibly and responsibly, and to help build capacity, nationally and locally. I should like to thank the President for the Cabinet’s endorsement of the ‘UN System Operating Principles for Transition’, which will form the basis of a mutually supportive relationship for the months and years ahead.

We are committed to using the National Development Framework and Budget as the driving force for national priority-setting and for our cooperation in Afghanistan. In this context, the UN has decided to delay its consolidated “TAPA” appeal for Afghanistan until after this national budget process is complete. This is, I believe, a rather unique attempt to ensure that our assistance both helps beneficiaries, and consolidates government policy and capacity. The Minister of Education, for example, has already set the priorities for education for the next 18 months, reinforcing a simple message: a roof for every school, a textbook for every child, and tables and chairs in every classroom.

While progress has been made, we must allow for neither triumphalism nor complacency. This country continues to struggle to recover from 23 years of conflict, displacement, near complete destruction of infrastructure, and a drought that continues today. The Government will need the help of all of us if it is to meet the many challenges ahead. It has been working intensively with local communities, and with the UN and NGOs over the past year to respond to the humanitarian crisis. The focus has been on supporting refugee return and community recovery. It has likewise addressed the many components of food insecurity, from the provision of food aid to agricultural regeneration and job creation, to basic education, to better health care and expanded basic social services. Now, the same collaborative spirit is being turned increasingly towards the demands of longer-term reconstruction.

This IG meeting presents a timely opportunity to re-focus on this longer term perspective so that stability might return to Afghanistan. Thus far, we have all, perhaps naturally, focused on how resources were being mobilized. Now, we must ensure these resources are put to effective use, in a sustained manner, which will make a difference in the lives of the people of Afghanistan.

The Transitional Administration has already begun taking the lead in longer term reconstruction. To be successful, it will need the capacity and resources of the donor community. Major infrastructure projects are required – in transport and roads, energy and telecommunications, mines and industry, water and agriculture – projects that can bring jobs, improve economic and trade prospects and facilitate foreign investment. They will need very significant financial and technical input from outside Afghanistan, based on priorities identified by the Government. In this regard, the recent announcement of a $180 million aid package from the United States of America, Japan, and Saudi Arabia for road construction, and the European Union’s pledge to rehabilitate the Kabul to Jalalabad road, are extremely positive developments. I hope they will soon be followed by similar initiatives.

There has been significant international support; however it is not quite sufficient to bring back peace and stability to the country. Micro level programs are well on their way, but without massive nationwide large-scale investment, the country cannot handle some of the most immediate peace-building tasks. Hundreds of thousands of jobs will need to be created to enable impoverished Afghans to earn a living and climb out of debt. The massive flow of returning refugees must be accommodated. Alternative livelihoods for poppy farmers must be found. Fighters wishing to lay down their guns must be confident that there is a job for them to go to. I hope, therefore, that we can accelerate nationwide programmes such as the World Bank-supported Solidarity Program, to inject income into communities.

That said, I am afraid that both national unity and longer term reconstruction will inevitably depend a great deal upon how well we meet the most pressing issue of today - that of security. The assassination attempt on President Karzai on the 5th of September, and the bombings in Kabul, illustrate the difficult security environment that the Transitional Administration is facing. Afghans will not be able to rebuild their lives unless the Government can provide for their security. The Government will be hard pressed to extend its authority throughout the country in the current environment, without a unified Afghan army and national police. It is extremely encouraging that the National Security Council and the Defence Commission have worked hard these last few days to put the creation of a National Army on track. The decisions which President Karzai will take need to be implemented fast and I am confident that the international community will support generously this vital project.

Another challenge that lies ahead is the promotion of the rule of law and human rights. They are fundamental to long-term stability, but must be pursued with a clear eye towards the political, cultural and security situation that is the reality in Afghanistan today. Peace must be consolidated first and foremost, lest Afghanistan returns to the conflict that only one year ago mired it in neglect, stagnation and ruin. The independent Commissions empowered by the Loya Jirga have a key role to play in this endeavour. UNAMA is here to support their efforts.

Allow me to conclude with the renewed expression of my gratitude to the governments and institutions represented here, for their sustained and steadfast support for Afghanistan. A few weeks before the anniversary of the Bonn agreement, I hope that the international community will turn its undoubted commitment to Afghanistan into more forceful action, and I look forward to working with all of you to that end.

Thank You.

Kabul, 12 October 2002

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