KABUL - The United Nations on Wednesday promised it would encourage the global fraternity to extend long-term assistance to Afghanistan, stressing foreign aid must be used in a transparent and judicious manner.
UN Secretary General’s Special Representative Jan Kubis was addressing a meeting of senior officials from more than 50 countries in Kabul. The participants are evaluating the pledges held out at last year's Tokyo Conference.
On July 8, 2012, donors at the conference in Japan had pledged to give Afghanistan $6b in civilian aid over the next four years to safeguard its future after the NATO pullout in 2014.
As Afghanistan accepted new conditions to stem endemic corruption, the US, Japan, Germany and the UK led the way at the Tokyo meeting in offering assistance. The Karzai administration had promised to promote good governance, protect human rights and improve women's situation.
The follow-up conference that began in Kabul at 9am is discussing progress in meeting the commitments made by the international fraternity and the Afghan government, officials say.
Representatives from the nations and Afghanistan will also confer on the mutual accountability framework -- a mechanism aimed to ensure transparent aid utilization and the economic growth of Afghanistan.
Also the head of the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), Kubis called for close cooperation between donor countries and Kabul in making the aid effective. He recalled Afghanistan and donor nations had jointly devised in February a new strategy for spending foreign assistance.
Kubis said the United Nations and the world were ready to continue to assist the war-torn country in areas of peace, prosperity and security. The diplomat added the UN would motivate the world to keep on helping Afghanistan, which expected aid to promote democratic values and ensure development.
While commending the government’s efforts to counter graft, he said the participants would explore ways of dealing with hurdles to next year’s presidential and provincial council elections.
The polls would be conducted in a fair and inclusive way in line with the government’s commitment, he hoped, stressing the need for an effective framework in this regard.
In response to his call, Foreign Minister Zalmai Rassoul said the Afghan government clung to its commitments. He added Kabul kept on trying to put in place a system of accountability for the sake of continued foreign aid flows into the impoverished country.
Finance Minister Omar Zakhilwal, referring to progress in different sectors, noted positive changes in Afghans’ economic life. He said much headway had been made in the fields of education, health, building roads and drinking water supply.
The level of hunger had been reduced and women’s given due rights, he said, acknowledging the problem of corruption that might damage efforts at good governance. But the government remained serious about addressing the challenge, he continued. (Pajhwok)