Reminding Delegates of Their Obligations

A two-day conference attended by high-ranking international delegates is taking place in Berlin on Wednesday. There will be more than 60 EU, G8 and NATO delegations, but also from Afghanistan's neighbouring countries. Musa Samimy reports

It was clear to the international community right from the start that support for Afghanistan could really only get under way when the Taliban regime had been ousted and the Al-Qaeda fighters linked to it driven out of the country. After decades of civil war and Taliban rule, the country was completely run down.

Without lasting international backing Afghanistan could not and cannot achieve peace, stability and a modest degree of prosperity. On the contrary, there is a serious risk that the country could again become a haven for terrorists.

In order to arrange for reconstruction aid as quickly and effectively as possible, an international donors’ conference attended by the representatives of 60 states and 20 non-government organisations was held in Tokyo in January 2002. At the close of the two-day conference, financial pledges totalling 4.5 billion US dollars had been made. However, only a fraction of that amount has been transferred.

Poverty is still very much part of everyday life

Of course, money is also on the agenda at the Berlin conference. The organisers intend to lay down how much money is needed for Afghanistan’s future development. The Kabul governments minister for reconstruction, Mohammad Amin Farhang, says an additional 10 billion dollars is needed from the international community over the next five years:

"According to the latest estimates, Afghanistan needs to spend as much as 4 billion dollars a year on reconstruction," says Farhang."The USA has already earmarked over 2 billion annually in special assistance and I’d also like to refer to the words of Germany’s International Development Minister, Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul. She has mentioned an estimated additional requirement of up to 2 billion dollars a year for the realisation of development projects”.

Indeed, today the most basic needs are often not being met. Last year and the year before, Afghanistan had to cope with the return of some 3 million refugees from neighbouring Iran and Pakistan. The UN estimates that 60 to 80 per cent of the population are still living below the poverty line, meaning they are subsisting on less than a dollar a day. Average life expectancy is just over 40 years, and more than 50 per cent of children under the age of five are undernourished.

Lowering the expectations

However, Reconstruction Minister Farhang is confident that the international community will support the Afghan government's development plans. He says that in the final analysis, rebuilding the economy is indispensable if security and stability are to be established:

"We want the reconstruction work to be comprehensive and adequate," Farhang says. "That’s why we are voicing our expectations and reminding people of the international obligations. I’m sure that in the end we’ll manage to reach a compromise at the Berlin conference."

However, the Afghan government itself has meanwhile considerably lowered the expectations it has of the donor countries. Finance Minister Ashraf Ghani has hinted that as a compromise he could also live with 60 per cent of the required funds.