Last Tuesday (March 29), a conference on the establishment of the Afghan legislature took place in Paris . The aim of the conference was to discuss issues related to the establishment of a functioning Parliament and raise funds for the project.

The high level Afghan delegation included – among other members - the Minister of Urban Development and Housing, Yousof Pashtoun, and the new Chairman of the Secretariat of the Wolesi Jirga, appointed by President Karzai on 3 rd March, Azizullah Lodon. In his speech, Azizullah Lodon remarked “the establishment of the Afghan National Assembly is a great event which strengthens the process of democratization of the Afghan society and prepares the necessary condition for civil society in the country.”

Acknowledging the “long vacuum in Parliamentary experience in Afghanistan ”, Mr. Lodon mentioned a series of challenges which needed urgent action, ranging from the need for a building for the Parliament and experienced staff to run it, to the establishment of a legal framework and proper mechanism between the Parliament and the executive. Azizullah Lodon also reminded participants of the necessity to recruit and train approximately one hundred staff as soon as possible, acknowledging that France had already trained eight members of the core staff of the Secretariat in Paris .

UNAMA was represented by Ameerah Haq, the Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Afghanistan . In her speech, Ameerah Haq gave the participants a brief outline of the election plan and stressed the importance of a functioning secretariat. She also insisted that “long-term commitment will be needed to support the enhancement of the Afghan capacity in the parliamentary process. This is a maturing process.”

The budget for the establishment of a fully functioning Afghan legislature is estimated to be USD $15 million dollars. France is the lead country in this initiative, which is also supported by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

•  Afghan Development Forum to start Monday

Tomorrow, Monday April 4, the third annual Afghanistan Development Forum 2005 (ADF) will begin and run until Wednesday April 6. The Forum's main theme will be “Accelerating Afghanistan Economic Development” and will take place at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

ADF will provide the first international donor forum for Afghanistan 's democratically elected President and his new cabinet. It is a particularly important meeting given that donors still fund more than 93 percent of Afghanistan 's national budget, and that Afghanistan 's reconstruction and development efforts need to be accelerated. The Forum will be an opportunity for the new cabinet to discuss its vision and strategy with donors and regional partners.

The forum will be attended by the members of the new Afghan cabinet, representatives of over 40 countries, international organizations and Non Governmental Organizations (NGOs). Special attendees will include the Special Representative of the Secretary-General, Jean Arnault, the Foreign Minister of The People's Republic of China, the Foreign Minister of Japan, the Foreign Minister of Tajikistan, the Defense Minister of New Zealand , the Vice-President of the World Bank and the Deputy Administrator of the US Agency for International Development (USAID).

Tomorrow's opening session will be introduced by a key note address from President Karzai and include speeches by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr. Abdullah Abdullah, the Minister of Finance, Dr. Anwar ul Haq Ahady, the Minister of Economy, Dr. Amin Farhang, and the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Afghanistan, Jean Arnault.

For further information on the forum, please click here: www.adf.gov.af.

•  DDR: 46,000 former AMF soldiers now disarmed

The latest figure of disarmed former Afghan Military Forces (AMF) soldiers is now 46,080. Afghanistan 's New Beginnings Programme (ANBP) expects to achieve the target of 60,000 disarmed by the end of the disarmament program in June of this year.

To date, 40,216 have entered the reintegration phase. Of that number, 6,124 have completed, or graduated from this phase.

Eight thousand eight hundred and seventy-three (8,873) heavy weapons have also been collected, moved into guarded compounds and deactivated. Little progress in collecting heavy weapons is due to ongoing problems in moving the heavy equipment necessary for the collection of the remaining heavy weapons in the north and the west. There are approximately 120 heavy weapons in working or repairable condition in the Kunduz and Farah areas. Once they are collected, along with any others that may be found, ANBP expects to be able to declare the country free of heavy weapons.

The ammunition survey has stepped up operations with the creation of a fifth survey team - currently in Kabul - and the planning of a sixth one. One of them could reinforce the Kunduz team while the other could be sent to Kandahar . So far, there are ongoing surveys in Kabul , Kunduz, Heart and Jalalabad. By the end of this month ANBP expects to have an approximate idea of the amount and kind of ammunition scattered throughout the country. It will take several more months to arrive at precise figures. The Afghan government will be responsible for developing a programme to dispose of the ammunition once the survey is complete. In the meantime, the survey teams destroy any unsafe or unstable ammunition that they come across.

•  UNEP to increase training for Afghan staff of the Department of Environment

Last week, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) sent 10 officials from the Department of Environment (DoE) to Bangkok to attend training courses. The courses focus on how and where to gather and collect relevant information and data relating to the environment. The courses will take place at the Asian Institute of Technology and the UNEP Regional Resource Centre for Asia and the Pacific. They will last between one and three months.

In addition, another 17 staff from the Department of Environment – five of which are women - have been selected to work as ‘UNEP Counterparts'. By working closely with the environmental UN agency, the selected staff will be able to specialize on issues related to the environment, the impact of environment damage, as well as environmental legislation. They will also undertake computer and English courses.

•  Additional government training for civil servants in southern Afghanistan

Forty (40) key government officials from Helmand and Nimroz provinces have begun a 15-day management skills training course in Lashkar Gah, the capital of Helmand . All participants will receive training on basic management and planning skills, teamwork, project and team management as well as evaluation of projects.

The course is funded by UNAMA and facilitated by the national NGO Bakhtar Duniya Organization (BDO). Participants include members of both district and provincial administrations. Three women officials will participate – the first time female officials from these provinces have attended this type of training.

This workshop follows another training of 60 officials from the province of Kandahar and 60 officials from Uruzgan. A future workshop, also to be facilitated and supported by UNAMA, will be held in Zabul.

•  Following workshop, Seed Law one step closer to being finalized

Last Wednesday (March 30) the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Husbandry and Food (MAAHF) held a workshop on legislation of seeds.

The purpose of the workshop was to review the draft Seed Law for Afghanistan – which aims to ensure high-quality seeds are produced by and available to farmers throughout the country.

Representatives from farmers, ministries, public and private enterprises, as well as national and international organizations reviewed the draft Seed Law and after active discussions of issues in the seed sector, they adopted a resolution approving the draft.

Based on this resolution, the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Husbandry and Food will be working on a final draft as quickly as possible. If enacted the draft Seed Law will establish a seed certification system and impose obligations on seed importers. In addition, seed imports, even donations, will need to meet certain standards to ensure adaptation of varieties to conditions in Afghanistan .

The workshop was organized by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations and the European Community.

•  World Health Day announcement

To mark World Health Day 2005, the Minister of Public Health (MoPH), Dr Sayed Mohammad Amin Fatimi, is calling a special press conference on Thursday April 7, at 2pm in the library of the MoPH in Kabul .

All media are invited to join the Minister, representatives of the United Nations, Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), and members of the donor community, at this conference, which is being held in addition to other events planned for the day.

Full details will be made available at the next briefing, but the Minister is expected to use this press conference to make a keynote statement on the status of women and children's health in Afghanistan . The global theme of World Health Day 2005 is “Make every mother and child count”.

Question: You gave an update on DDR and heavy weapons collection. But regarding the illegal militias programme, what is your current position? Secondly, regarding the flood emergency, is the situation under control and have the groups that have been set up been able to meet people's needs? [of those affected by floods].

Senior Public Information Officer: In terms of illegal armed groups, there has been a mapping exercise that has been ongoing for some time. Different bodies that have relevant information on these groups have been involved including the Ministry of Defence (MoD), Afghan Security agencies, the Coalition, and ISAF. We are now looking at something close to 2000 various groups. In terms of the category of militia, the two main problematic types are those which could pose a serious threat in the framework of the holding of the elections, but also those which could be linked with drug trade. The Government is looking at two areas, Badakhshan and Kandahar , where they may initiate a pilot project to see how disarmament can be addressed. These seem to be the two regions which have the largest number of illegal armed groups. This is being worked on right now and should happen soon.

Regarding the floods – right now it is rather good news. We have not had any major floods since the flooding in Ghazni, which is now under control. A number of working groups have been established to set-up coordination mechanism, identify high-risk areas and organize pre-positioning. All this is in place, as well as the joint operations centre which is operating here [next door] and is made up of members of the government and international organizations. In terms of floods there is nothing new for the time being. In terms of preparations, I think everyone agrees, we are prepared.

Question: You may have noticed recently that there has been a surge in the Taliban's violence – on Friday we had several attacks. How much does this concern the UN?

Senior Public Information Officer: Security has always been a concern. There are upcoming elections and there is a strong component related to security in the preparations of the elections. When we look at security issues, we look at the incidents which happened over the last year, in the run-up to last year's elections and also what has happened over the last month, and what is currently happening. All these elements are taken into consideration to make sure, as much as one can, that there is a proper security plan established during the run-up to the upcoming elections and for the elections themselves. Of course security incidents may happen, and I think everyone has realized that there has been more security incidents in the last days, maybe given the good weather, but this is also taken into consideration in the security plan for the run up to the elections.

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