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Ghani explains three pillar approach to a better Afghanistan
President Ashraf Ghani called for a moment of silence on Tuesday, while delivering his keynote remarks virtually at the Geneva Conference, for victims of recent attacks, including the Kabul University attack.
Geneva Conference 2020 has brought together about 70 foreign countries and stakeholders who will decide the funding assistance to Afghanistan for the years 2021 to 2024.
Addressing delegates Ghani said: “We, the Afghan people, government and the international community-share a vision of a sovereign, unified, democratic Afghanistan at peace with itself, the region and the world, capable of preserving and expanding the gains of the past two decades.”
Ghani said the country’s “three-pillar approach of peace, state and market-building presented in the second Afghan National Peace & Development Framework were validated & further enriched through a series of workshops with our partners in a spirit of genuine openness”.
Ghani said that we must build a strong regional consensus for a stable and peaceful Afghanistan.
“A sovereign, unified and democratic Afghanistan at peace…is a shared vision of all. This is not just the ultimate objective of our negotiations with the Taliban in Doha, but more importantly, it is also the ultimate goal of the work we do every day,” Ghani added.
Ghani says conditions of well-being need to be created and “rules of the game” also need to be created so that Afghanistan does not find itself “pulled backwards by vacuums of governance in which destructive forces can thrive such as corruption and unequal distribution of resources.
Ghani says “peace-making process will, inshallah, result in an agreement on paper. But peace-building is a multi-dimensional, cross-sectoral, long-term process that will allow us to actually implement the components of any peace agreement on paper.”
Ghani highlighted the need to establish rule of law and security and providing services that build citizen’s trust in government in order to sustain a peace agreement.
“In this way market-building and state-building are inextricably linked to peace-building”.
Ghani stated that regional connectivity is not only key to Afghanistan’s market and state-building agenda but also a key to the country’s peace-building agenda.
“We need to create a strong regional consensus for a stable and peaceful Afghanistan,” he said.
Ghani said Afghanistan is facing daunting challenges but the country needs to adjust to deal with these issues and also acknowledged that “a lot more needs to be done now with a lot less”.
Ghani also mentioned the Afghan security forces and their ability to safeguard the country.
“We have been able to retake most of the districts captured by the Taliban,” Ghani said.
He also stated that there are less than 10,000 foreign troops in the country currently. “International forces reduced from 150,000 in 2011, to below 10,000 today,” he said.
Ghani asked international partners to help Afghanistan “do more with less” in the years ahead and said key sectors “are low-hanging fruits for increasing efficiency and output relatively quickly by implementing cost-cutting measures and deflating bloated bureaucracies”.
Ghani said that Afghanistan is currently focusing on self-sufficiency measures in the education, urban development, energy and infrastructure sectors.
“The real test of the strength of our partnership and the virtue of our shared vision is if we are able to avoid an even greater tragedy of our shared history. We must not let history repeat her tragedies here in Afghanistan.”
UN chief Antonio Guterres delivered a pre-recorded message to the pledging conference and highlighted the achievements Afghanistan has made over the years despite the serious challenges the country has faced over the years including conflict and poverty.
Guterres said Afghans have suffered for too long and called for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire.
Guterres told delegates it’s important that the peace process is inclusive and urges Afghanistan’s neighbors to support the country in its quest for peace and prosperity.
Bayat Foundation has announced it has distributed Ramadan aid packages to dozens of needy families in Bamyan province.
These aid packages include flour, oil, and rice, intending to assist those in need during the holy month of Ramadan.
Officials from the foundation stated that these donations will be extended to needy families in other provinces of the country by the end of Ramadan.
“As part of the Bayat Foundation’s ongoing assistance, today we are distributing Ramadan aid packages in Bamyan province. These packages contain flour, rice, and oil,” said Sayed Hakim, a representative of the Bayat Foundation in Bamyan.
Meanwhile, recipients of the aid have called on other charitable organizations to also rush to assist those in need during this month.
One recipient expressed gratitude: “Thanks to the Bayat Foundation for considering help for people like us.”
Another recipient added: “Thank you to the Bayat Foundation for helping us, and we hope that in the future, more aid will be provided to the poor people of Bamyan.”
In addition to supporting public welfare projects, healthcare, and those affected by natural disasters, the Bayat Foundation has been providing food and non-food aid to thousands of needy families in the center and provinces of Afghanistan during each Ramadan for nearly two decades.
Pakistan’s foreign ministry on Thursday called on the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) to take visible and verifiable action against militants who, it said, enjoy sanctuaries inside Afghanistan.
“Terrorist threat against Pakistan from terrorist entities including TTP, BLA and ISKP is our foremost concern,” Shafqat Ali Khan, Pakistan’s foreign ministry spokesperson, said. “We continue to impress upon interim authorities to take visible and verifiable action against them, keeping in view their commitments given to the international community to dismantle terrorist infrastructure and groups from the Afghan soil.”
Regarding Afghan refugees, he confirmed that the deadline for their deportation remains unchanged. Pakistan had set March 31 as the deadline for Afghan Citizenship Card holders and illegal foreigners to leave Pakistan voluntarily.
On border issues, Shafaqat Ali Khan informed that the Torkham border was reopened on Wednesday, with pedestrian travel allowed from Friday. The border will remain open until April 15, and a permanent solution is being sought. There won’t be any construction by Afghan side inside the Pakistani territory, he said.
On militancy, he said that Pakistan is taking robust actions, but it is impossible to completely seal off the border with Afghanistan.
IEA has previously rejected Pakistan’s claims that terrorists have sanctuaries in Afghanistan.
Acting Minister of Education Habibullah Agha says content contradicting religion and Afghan traditions will be removed from the curriculum, and that in addition to religious studies, the ministry is also focusing on modern sciences.
Marking the beginning of the 1404 academic year in Kabul, Habibullah Agha stressed that both religious and modern sciences are essential nowadays in Afghanistan.
He emphasized that the Islamic Emirate is committed to both fields of knowledge and urged people not to be deceived by negative propaganda.
“In this era, we have a great need to learn modern sciences. We must progress with these sciences and prepare ourselves to compete with the world,” said Agha.
He clarified that only through mastering modern sciences can the nation safeguard its people, government, health, and geography.
Meanwhile, Deputy Prime Minister for Administrative Affairs Abdul Salam Hanafi, who was also present at the event, reaffirmed the leadership’s commitment to fulfilling the Ministry of Education’s needs to establish a high-quality education system in Afghanistan.
Salam Hanafi stressed that the ministry must work to meet the country’s current educational demands.
He stated: “Enhancing teachers’ capabilities, addressing literacy issues, monitoring classroom activities, and improving the quality of both religious and public schools—these are the responsibilities of the Ministry of Education.”
Meanwhile, several government officials claimed that despite efforts by adversaries to tarnish the reputation of the IEA through a ‘cold war’, Afghanistan continues to make progress every day.
The 1404 academic year however began without reopening schools for girls above the sixth grade.
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