Briefing to the Security Council by USG for Peacekeeping Operations Jean-Marie Guéhenno on Afghanistan

6 April

In the light of the very successful conference on Afghanistan held last week in Berlin, it is fitting that the Security Council should take stock of what was achieved at the conference and what now lies before us in terms of capitalizing on the momentum gained in Berlin to complete the Bonn process successfully.

First, let me reiterate our deep thanks to the German Government for the outstanding preparation and organization that went into the holding of the conference. The leadership of the German Government in putting the conference together was absolutely critical to its success. The Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Afghanistan, Mr. Jean Arnault, the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan and we in the Secretariat are extremely grateful for the very effective collaboration that we enjoyed with our co-Chairs - the Afghan Government, Germany and Japan - at all levels.

The achievements of the conference are numerous, and I do not want to steal the thunder of the Permanent Representative of Germany by detailing them all. However, I believe that the conference reasserted the unity of purpose and long-term commitment that have been a hallmark of the international community’s engagement in Afghanistan. The presence in Berlin of some 25 ministers and numerous other high-ranking Government officials is a clear signal of the international community’s continuing resolve to assist the Afghan Government and see the peace process through to its completion, to a point when peace and stability are firmly established and economic development is on track.

The Berlin declaration, adopted by the participants, provides a clear statement of vision for this remarkable partnership, and the proof of it was clearly offered by the very generous pledges that the Government received. The $4.4 billion committed for the current fiscal year was over 100 per cent of the amount that had been sought, and the $8.2 billion committed for three years represented 69 per cent of the funds requested for that period by the Ministry of Finance. Above all, that generosity suggests a level of continuing donor confidence in Afghanistan that is a credit to President Karzai’s leadership and his Government’s effective handling of the funds committed so far.

The conference also approved a comprehensive work plan, annexed to the declaration, providing us all with a blueprint for international cooperation with the Afghan Government. The work plan, endorsed by the Afghan Cabinet, provides clear benchmarks and targets to be met in the political, security and economic spheres over the coming months and years. Also agreed in Berlin was a strong framework for regional cooperation in countering narcotics by Afghanistan and its neighbours. That agreement expresses the resolve of the region to combat the terrible threat that drug trafficking poses to Afghanistan, its neighbours and the world beyond.

In the margins of the intergovernmental conference, two other important meetings were held. A meeting of Afghan civil society members provided a set of useful recommendations to the Afghan Government. A donor meeting for the elections was also held at which donors provided pledges of some $68 million, against the needs of some $135 million, for the presidential and parliamentary elections to be held in September in Afghanistan and for the refugee communities in Pakistan and Iran. This result is significant in that it provides sufficient funds for critical start-up costs and procurement for electoral activities. The importance of raising the remaining funds required should not be underestimated, however. We hope that this early generosity also implies that donors recognize that the rest of the funding must be found soon if the tight electoral time frames are to be met.

The achievements that I have mentioned are truly impressive. However, their full impact will be felt only if we capitalize on the momentum of Berlin to ensure that the peace process receives the support it needs. The tasks still facing Afghanistan remain daunting. I will not elaborate here on the huge challenges on the reconstruction and development front, except to stress, as some of my colleagues did in Berlin, that the ambitious level of growth and assistance sought by the Afghan Government would still deliver a per capita income of only $500 by 2015.

That is a clear reminder of how far Afghanistan has to go, of how important the timely disbursement of pledges can be, and of the amount of work that the Afghan Government must do to ensure that even those very meagre expectations of a peace dividend are met.

The conference also highlighted the challenge of combating what the Secretary-General has called the rising tide of the drugs economy. Opium production in Afghanistan in 2003, estimated at 3,600 tonnes produced on 80,000 hectares, will represent a further increase above the already high 2002 figure — a figure that generated an income equivalent to over half of Afghanistan’s national income. Turning back this tide will take a concerted effort, as well as patience, but the immediate efforts of the Afghan Government on the eradication front must also be supported.

While not downplaying the importance of those challenges, I would nevertheless like to stress here the very pressing, short-term demands that now face the country if Afghanistan is to achieve the next stage of the Bonn process — that is, national elections. As Mr. Arnault said in Berlin, the response to the registration process so far provides evidence of the Afghans’ strong desire to participate in the political process.

In the work plan annexed to the Berlin declaration, the Government has agreed to take a number of steps to help ensure freedom of expression and political organization, a level playing field for political parties and their candidates, a neutral civil service and military, freedom of the press and equal access to it. At the request of the Government of Afghanistan, we are prepared, jointly with the Afghan Human Rights Commission, to monitor closely the implementation of political rights across the country in the hope that this will increase opportunities and incentives to achieve these benchmarks.

However, the vast majority of Afghans remain convinced, above all, that elections require prior disarmament. The fighting that broke out in Heart two weeks ago underscores the threat that factional rivalries pose to the exercise of credible, free and fair elections. If factional military forces continue to be a dominating feature of the political scene, they are bound to curtail the political liberties necessary for truly civilian politics and a credible election. They must not be allowed to do so.

(spoke in French)

Without substantial improvements in the security situation, the elections will be threatened. The work plan provides for the intensification of disarmament, demobilization and reintegration (DDR) efforts to encompass 40 per cent of current militia and the cantonment of all heavy weapons by this June. Success in DDR programmes will depend to a great degree on the leadership of the Afghan Government. It is now absolutely vital that that goal be achieved. This has indeed been a long-standing priority project, and progress made towards its achievement will boost the Government’s authority and legitimacy and that of all political leaders who have committed themselves to its success. This disarmament process will also be in keeping with the legal requirements of the new political party law, which mandates the clear separation of political formations from their military wings as a precondition for their participation in the electoral process.

In that context, I would like once again to underscore the need for adequate international security assistance to support the efforts of the Afghan Government in the electoral process and to protect that process from both factional threats and attempts to simply terminate it. The Afghan national army will be able, we all hope, to become actively involved in deterring all factional violence, as it is doing now in Heart, and to ensure the monitoring of heavy weapons cantonment, as it is doing today in Mazar-e-Sharif.

By June the newly trained units of the Ministry of the Interior could be deployed in larger numbers to help create an environment that is more conducive to the free operation of parties and independent candidates. The provincial reconstruction teams are also expected to continue to play a positive role in facilitating DDR operations and deterring interference.

Nevertheless, the Afghan and international security forces currently deployed in Afghanistan have limited capacity, and they will be overextended if they have to assume the immense task of supporting a credible election process that is acceptable to all. Therefore, I wish to join the voice of the United Nations to President Karzai’s recent appeal to NATO and the coalition to increase deployment of international forces in order to help the Afghan Government fulfil its commitment to hold free and fair elections. These elections will demonstrate the international community’s solidarity, which thus far has been evident in support of Afghanistan. Let us not forget that we will judged by the quality of the outcome.