From the desk of Farhana Faruqi-Stocker
Since 2001 there have been nine international conferences on Afghanistan. The most recent was in Kabul in July 2010. Each conference sought to review the Bonn Agreement of 2001 which established the new Afghan state and to discuss the future of Afghanistan.
As we approach the 5th of December, the world will once again converge on Bonn, Germany for the annual International Conference on Afghanistan to lay out plans for the withdrawal of international troops and make commitments on the levels of support following the withdrawal. This is a crucial point in mapping Afghanistan’s development and future and therefore we think this is a crucial moment to act. We must ensure that the realities of real Afghans, including Afghan women, and their needs are central to the discussions and the international community’s plans, not political and military objectives.
We need your help to push decision-makers to take into account what is happening in the lives of ordinary Afghans. Write to Rt Hon William Hague, British Foreign Secretary relaying our message below or adapt it for your local parliamentarian.
Dear Sir:
On 5 December 2011, you will act as a representative of the UK Government at the Bonn Conference on Afghanistan. As a supporter of Afghanaid, a UK registered charity for the economic and political development of the poorest rural Afghans; I am particularly concerned that the needs of ordinary Afghans are placed at the center of your discussions and are central to any outcomes.
Afghanaid is calling on the UK to build on the fragile process that has been made over the past ten years and ensure that the Bonn Conference results in sustained support to development in Afghanistan both during and after transition. The needs of the poorest Afghan’s, including Afghan women, and most remote communities must be at the centre of future support, not international military and political objectives. And future development funding must be focused on the quality of basic services, not just quantity, to ensure sustainability and value for money of UK investments in Afghanistan.
The voices of ordinary Afghans must be present at the Bonn conference and they must inform the outcome and plans that emerge from Bonn – in order to avoid what has been the unacceptable amount of progress that has been made over the past ten years.