Rebuilding Afghanistan: An Agenda for International Action
Published: October 2001
Publication Summary
The international community has begun to respond to the urgent humanitarian needs in Afghanistan. These efforts need to continue and intensify. But the needs of the country and its people will go beyond this immediate humanitarian crisis. Afghanistan will require a sustained international commitment to achieve peace and to rebuild the country after more than 20 years of war. This is not a short-term task; the international community will need to stay engaged, both politically and financially, for many years to come.
Despite the current climate of fear and uncertainty, many Afghan citizens continue to work for peace and reconstruction in their country. Oxfam partners are working today to provide education to girls, to provide clean water to villages, and to remove landmines left behind by war. These groups and many others are continuing this important work and are ready to be part of an effort to rebuild their country. It is not too early to begin making the political and economic commitments that will be required to rebuild Afghanistan. To this end, Oxfam recommends the following.
1 An intensified effort to address widespread humanitarian need in Afghanistan and in neighboring countries.
All efforts must be made to get food to Afghan people inside the country. Food is most likely to reach people in need if the aid effort is impartial and separate from military action. Assistance should be delivered through the UN and partner agencies, using existing distribution mechanisms (truck and donkey convoys) and local organizational capacity (local professional and traditional groups) to the extent possible. The USA, the European Union, and neighboring countries should ensure that borders are opened, respecting people?ight to seek refuge, and that adequate assistance is provided, meeting the standards established under international humanitarian law and as set out within the Sphere framework. Particular attention should be given to the protection of women in a context where there is greater vulnerability to gender-based violence.
2 A UN-led effort to establish a broad-based political coalition in Afghanistan.
A UN mission in Afghanistan should draw lessons from previous experience in East Timor and Mozambique in order to ensure an effective transition to national governance. This process should be guided by the following principles:
A. Responsive and accountable governance, which gives space to civil society to participate in the political process.
B. Recognition of all ethnic, religious, and regional groups in any process of transition.
C. Representation of women in structures of government and political dialogue.
D. Adherence to international human rights and humanitarian law, and to the international conventions on rights to which Afghanistan is a signatory.
Ensuring support for these principles will only be possible if there is a sustained commitment by global powers to put aside historic enmities and alliances, to cease supporting single factions, and to invest in a broad-based national coalition.
3 Controls on arms supplies to the region.
The continued flow of arms to Afghanistan is a major cause of destabilization. As part of a longer-term strategy, the UN and neighboring countries should develop a comprehensive disarmament plan for Afghanistan and the region.
4 A reconstruction plan for Afghanistan.
An ambitious plan is required to resolve the chronic poverty, displacement, and damage caused by over 20 years of war. A reconstruction plan for Afghanistan will require strong leadership from the UN, in order to ensure real and perceived impartiality in the delivery of assistance. This plan should incorporate a regional strategy for addressing the grave conditions of poverty, displacement, and humanitarian need suffered by Afghanistan?eighbors. Critical needs will be in the areas of:
A. Health and Education
Long-term development for Afghanistan requires that resources be focused particularly on education and health. Educated women who have been restricted from working in their profession (especially in the health and education sectors) must be re-integrated into society and allowed to contribute to the rebuilding of Afghanistan. An equitable education system for boys and girls, minority and Pashtun, urban and rural populations, must be developed.
B. Women's rights and representation
A specific strategy to address women?xclusion will be required in any reconstruction plan. Development plans should recognize the many existing women?rganizations in the country, and those operating from neighboring countries. The UN Gender Advisor post for Afghanistan should be filled immediately, and should participate in the highest levels of decision-making. Afghanistan should be supported in carrying through its commitments as a signatory to the Conventions on Civil and Political Rights, the Convention on the Rights of the Child, and the Cairo Declaration on Human Rights in Islam. Afghanistan should also be encouraged to ratify CEDAW.
C. Support to Afghan civil society
Afghanistan has been largely portrayed as having no organizational structures outside of religious extremism and military factions. But there is an important professional, non-sectarian civil society that will ultimately determine the success of any efforts to rebuild the country. Afghanistan has also been home to some of the most important and courageous women?rganizations in the region. These groups should be acknowledged and supported as part of any reconstruction effort.
5 Donor coordination
This will be crucial, given the significant amount of funding coming into the country. Donors should support the leadership of Lakhdar Brahimi in his new role as UN Special Envoy to Afghanistan in charge of the UN?verall humanitarian and political work in the country. A starting point for this mission should be the important work that was done on the 1999 Strategic Framework for International Assistance document, which went through wide consultation with international and national organizations. Donors should be committed to providing sustained and substantial funding.
6 The role of the European Union
This will be increasingly important in ensuring that there is adequate monitoring capacity of the political transition and reconstruction efforts. The EU should demonstrate its long-term interest by setting out a comprehensive strategy in support of the UN effort. The EU should extend the Common Foreign and Security Policy from its current focus on the Balkans and the Middle East to include Afghanistan and its neighbors.
Conclusion
In 1995, Boutros Boutros Ghali said that Afghanistan had become one of 'the world's orphaned conflicts - the ones the West, selective and promiscuous in its attention, happens to ignore' the current climate of war has again brought attention to Afghanistan's historic suffering. It is time now to ensure that it receives the attention it deserves, and does not once again slip into the realm of forgotten crises that the world has left behind.
This is part of a series of papers written to inform public debate on development and humanitarian policy issues. The text may be freely used for the purposes of campaigning, education, and research, provided that the source is acknowledged in full.
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