Good afternoon, I am pleased to be here, I work for the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs which aims to identify humanitarian issues, supporting implementation at the country level of both UN and your Government's collaboration [on humanitarian issues], to mobilise resources and attention to specific humanitarian issues.

We have been invited here by our colleagues in the United Nations who have particular concerns for some of the short and medium term humanitarian issues. We have looked at, most of all, internal coordination arrangements but we also looked at the impact of the conflict in the southern part of the country in terms of short term displacement of the populations, possibility of [improving] protection for aid workers and how to reach and to assist [the people].

There has been a lot of progress achieved in Afghanistan over the [past] many years, we would like to ensure that we have sufficient capacity for short term issues, not to undermine the long term achievements of the country. We have discussed with partners both here in Kabul and of course in Kandahar and all partners to the situation as to how we can strengthen that capacity to address hopefully the short term issues that occur in the south.

In order to gather information and achieve our needed knowledge base we have meet with Government authorities, UN agencies, NGOs, and with the military and other security forces. Our delegation includes an expert in civil-military relations, our focal point on operations for Asia who covers Afghanistan and one member of the team has been focusing on protection [of civilians] issues.

Question and Answers:

Radio Killid (translated from Dari ): What are your concerns on the humanitarian issues, secondly much assistance has been provided to Afghanistan but there is not any sign of improvement in Kabul , the city does not even have a tarmac road. And some believe that this assistance has been misused, what is your view?

Margareta Wahlström: Let me start with your last point, tarmac roads are not humanitarian assistance, that's development and reconstruction assistance which is financed in a different manner and this is the focus of the national development plan and the Afghanistan Compact. Humanitarian assistance is very specific – it is short term, its aimed at alleviating immediate suffering, providing basic health care, food and shelter.

Specific concerns of a humanitarian nature are always preparedness to assist people who are affected by natural disasters but there is now quite a good capacity to do that in Afghanistan between the national authorities and the internationals. Other concerns include short-term displacement of populations after battles and conflict situations. Also the longer term displacement because people don't go back and we need to strengthen the preparedness and ability to assist these populations.

Question Aina TV ( translated from Dari): What is your assessment of the security situation in Afghanistan ? The Taliban have warned of a spring offensive in the south, don't you think this will hurt your assistance in the south?

Margareta Wahlström: Overall the security situation is very different from one region to the next. One of the very difficult issues for all our action in the south is access to the populations, limited by the security concerns and moving battle fronts. Right now we will have to have to see how the offensive affects the situation but one of our major concerns is that we are already so very restricted and it is very difficult to reach out, to get correct information and to be able to establish a base line to help people.

Radio Azadi ( translated from Dari) : What is your general impression of the situation in Afghanistan ? How can you summarise what you have seen and your impressions?

Margareta Wahlström: I have only been to Kabul and Kandahar this time but overall I must say I am quite impressed by a lot of progress that is visible, things that you can see that look much better including in the south. But I think our concern is very much that in order to sustain progress we also need to became much better at covering all parts of Afghanistan with assistance to reach out. Our concern for the south and other areas that are difficult to access is really to ensure that this lack of access does not undermine progress and the relative stability we have in the rest of the country.

Question Ariana TV ( translated from Dari ): You said that you are trying to reach the population to make sure that they are well supported and aid is delivered. It has been five years since this assistance has been given to the people, but it seems that many people are not satisfied. What is the best way to deliver assistance to the people to make sure they are satisfied?

Margareta Wahlström: Our job here is to look at the very limited part of assistance, which is the humanitarian, which is short-term and very specific needs. On the overall picture, as difficult as it is, Afghanistan is a very poor country, but people, through the process you have had for five years have higher aspirations now. I think the work that UNAMA is reflecting here is really also trying to support that outreach that the Government has to do. I think this is very much a long-term perspective. Our specific problem is to reach people who are in conflict affected areas. This is a very specific problem because you have contending partners, the security is bad - the problem is linked to the overall one, but is not the same problem.

Question: You mentioned the problems of access and the lack of information on some of the humanitarian issues. Can you share some of these decisions you might have made during your visit with us now? And also specifically if you have a better idea of the situation in Musa Qala which has particularly been affected by these problems.

Margareta Wahlström: We are focused really on using the contacts that already exist at very local level and collecting the information that is there and comparing them with each other. That is a wide range of sources, including the media since many of you report on these situations – but contacts with local authorities, contacts with NGOs, with our UN partners and the military. Everyone says that they are willing to collaborate and we will need to dedicate resources to do this very simple exercise. I think that challenge is that already now, we get the information, but it is sometimes contradictory and differing information, so a lot more work needs to be put into actually checking what is the realistic information basis and then to make sure that assistance can be delivered. So, I think that no-one is resisting the idea and everyone is willing to collaborate and we will support putting in place the mechanisms in the offices to make sure that this happens now.

Specifically regarding Musa Qala, this is the situation that we are in right now. We are trying to use all these different contacts and sources to get the information. As of yesterday, we had a number of people who had been displaced because of the immediate fighting, in fact, we had had two different figures, one twice as high as the other one. We really want to go back and check that. We know that assistance is going to be sent there and has already arrived in fact, in terms of material assistance to the displaced population.

Question Afghanistan Times ( translated from Dari ): This question is in three parts. The first part is that you referred to the progress with the assistance that has been made in Afghanistan . What were the problems in the past and what was the progress and what changes have you seen? The second part, relates to the delivery of assistance to the people. Assistance was not delivered to the right people and this assistance was misused, especially by the Afghan military forces. How sure are you that this assistance will reach the right people? The third part is what is your view as an UN representative on the reconciliation resolution that has been recently approved by the two houses of Parliament?

Margareta Wahlström: On the progress, it's two and half years since I was here, but I follow Afghanistan very closely. On the progress visibly, when you fly into Kabul , all the scrap metal has gone from the airport, so it no longer looks like a country at war when you land in Kabul – this is very important. We also know that a lot of people have returned to Kabul and the city is very overcrowded for its infrastructure. So of course people here feel that there is no progress. But, the fact that people are coming back, is itself a sign of progress, whilst at the same time it puts a pressure on the country.

Some of the things that people do not see daily, but there is economic growth in the country – we can see that from the statistics. The infrastructure is getting stronger - roads are being built, there are commercial airlines, you have TV and media. All these things are signs of progress in themselves. People have more access to information and that creates a much more vibrant country.

Just two specific examples – there are many more children in school and a much stronger basic health system which means many more people have access to these services. And also to give you an example of what we must worry about. When it comes to schools – schools are being built – girls are coming to school, but schools are being burned down. This is a sign that should be of great concern to every Afghan, to the Afghan authorities and all the friends of Afghanistan . The second area of concern is that the health system is getting gradually stronger but the polio eradication campaign cannot be completed in the south. Polio was almost eradicated in Afghanistan . But the time I left, there were only six cases in the south and now there are well over thirty cases in the south. This is a sign that we cannot reach out to immunise children in the way it has to be done.

And finally on the assistance point. One of the reasons that we really have to work about access is that humanitarian assistance needs to be monitored very carefully. We would like to follow to make sure we meet the people who receive assistance. We do not give assistance to the military. Of course, there can be situations where assistance may end up in the wrong hands. That's why you will have organisations who want to go everywhere to make sure that can really deliver assistance to those who really need it – which is not necessarily everyone, but to understand who are the most needy people.

On the national reconciliation resolution – I will say two things. The first point is that reconciliation is a national process. If people agree on what process they need to follow, that the only way it can happen. And the second point is that there are certainly internationally agreed standards that need to be followed in order to ensure that everyone can be supportive of such a process.

UNAMA Spokesperson: I will just add to those comments on the resolution. It is not entirely unexpected. It is representative largely of one point of view, as you know there are many other points of view. It is important that those other points of view do come out in Afghanistan . International law does not support amnesties for war criminals - that is one point I think has to be made clear. UNAMA's position on this has now been stated repeatedly, but to say again, forgiveness for crimes of this nature should be in the hands of the victims.

Thank you.