KABUL - President Ashraf Ghani said on Thursday UN-affiliated organisations should improve transparency in their activities and avoid repetition of ineffective programmes.

The president expressed these views at a meeting with representatives of UN agencies, a statement from the Presidential Palace said.

Agriculture Minister Asadullah Zamir and officials from United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), World Health Organization (WHO), United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), World Food Programme (WFP), Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and United Nations Office for Crimes and Drugs (UNOCD) were present at the meeting.

The president advised organizations working under UN charter to ensure transparency in their activities and eliminate ineffective programmes from their agendas.

He asked the UN agencies to hire more Afghans as their employees and develop links with the Ministry of Interior (MoI) and other government departments concerned.

Ghani said the government and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) should execute projects according to people’s wishes and for this purpose, surveys should to be conducted in major cities to get public opinions about projects they needed.

The president said the elimination of polio and other deadly diseases was his government priority and urged the WHO to work in this regard and share its report with the government of Afghanistan.

He asked the representatives to help train Afghans and enable them to perform important tasks when foreign experts leave Afghanistan.

He asked them to remain cooperative with Afghanistan in times of natural disasters and help the war-torn country develop a strong system of governance.

The UN officials informed the president about their future programs and how they were to be implemented. (Pajhwok)