General Assembly Session 57 meeting 68

The Acting President

The General Committee decided to recommend to the General Assembly that an additional item, entitled "International Year of Rice, 2004", should be included in the agenda of the current session.

May I take it that the General Assembly decides to include in the agenda of the current session this additional item?

The Acting President

The General Committee further decided to recommend to the General Assembly that the additional item should be considered directly in plenary meeting.

May I take it that the General Assembly decides to consider this item directly in plenary meeting?

The Acting President

I should like to inform members that the item entitled "International Year of Rice, 2004" becomes agenda item 168.

The Acting President

Members will recall that the General Assembly adopted resolution 57/8 under these items, at its 47th plenary meeting, on 11 November 2002.

By paragraph 1 of resolution 57/8, the General Assembly decided to convene an Open-ended Panel on Afghanistan on 18 November 2002. In paragraph 5 of the same resolution, the General Assembly decided that the President of the General Assembly would present a summary of the discussions of the Open-ended Panel at the beginning of the debate on 6 December 2002, which is today.

I will now present, on behalf of the President, a summary of the discussions of the Open-ended Panel.

We are gathered here today to consider items dealing with Afghanistan. As the international community and Afghanistan marked the one-year anniversary of the Bonn Agreement this week, our debate provides an excellent opportunity to take stock of the situation and glean the lessons learned from the past year. In that connection, I would like to report to the Assembly that on 18 November 2002, the General Assembly convened an Open-ended Panel on Afghanistan, in accordance with its resolution 57/8. As members will recall, the resolution also requested the President to present a summary of the discussions of the Panel to the General Assembly prior to its debate on Afghanistan. The Panel engendered lively interactive discussions, as well as concrete proposals, on a number of important issues pertaining to Afghanistan, which I am pleased to report to the Assembly today.

At the outset of the Panel sessions, messages from Secretary-General Kofi Annan and President Hamid Karzai were read out. They both acknowledged the tremendous progress that had been accomplished in Afghanistan but noted that many challenges remained, and they welcomed the timely convening of the Panel.

The Panel held two sessions: one focused on political issues and the other on economic issues. Mr. Kieran Prendergast, Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs, moderated the first session, which heard from four panellists. They were Mr. Jean Arnault, Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Afghanistan; Mr. Amin Farhang, Minister of Reconstruction of the Afghanistan Transitional Administration; Mr. Ahmed Rashid, Correspondent for the Far Eastern Economic Review and the Daily Telegraph; and Mr. Barnett Rubin, Director of Studies at the Center for International Cooperation, New York University.

The overarching theme of both the panellists' presentations and the subsequent discussion was the importance of reconstruction, security and institution-building. There was agreement on the need to quicken the pace of reconstruction and enhance security. It was stated that reconstruction and security issues go hand in hand, and that real progress on those two issues was essential to the legitimacy of the Afghan Government and the Bonn process itself. Many comments also placed Afghanistan in its regional context, and reiterated the fact that rebuilding Afghan State institutions and providing security within Afghanistan would play an important role in regional development.

For the session on economic issues, the panellists were Mr. Bernard Frahi, head of the regional office for South-West Asia of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime; Mr. Mukesh Kapila, former Special Adviser to the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Afghanistan; Mr. Eric Morris, Director of the New York Liaison Office of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees; and Ms. Julia Taft, Assistant Administrator and Director of the Bureau for Crisis Prevention and Recovery of the United Nations Development Programme. Mr. Ishaq Naderi, Professor at New York University and Senior Economic Adviser to President Karzai, participated in the discussion. Mr. David Malone, President of the International Peace Academy, moderated the session.

During the second session, the Panel considered a broad spectrum of issues, including aid disbursement, refugees, drugs and the status of women. On aid, the discussion focused on the channels of disbursement as well as on whether Afghanistan should move towards a consultative group process. Some participants raised concerns regarding reports of former refugees leaving Afghanistan again. Also, a number of questions were raised regarding medium-term policies for combating drugs. Overall, there were many calls for capacity-building, cross-sectoral approaches to reconstruction and sustained levels of donor commitment to Afghanistan.

Both panels yielded specific recommendations that might be considered by the General Assembly in its discussion on matters pertaining to Afghanistan.

Specific proposals relating to political issues included the following: the need to address the link between security and the political process, and in particular for the international community to take a more proactive and imaginative approach to improving security; the need for enhanced cooperation for the formation and training of the new Afghan army; and the need for donors to recognize the importance of supporting the Afghan national census. The United Nations should play a coordinating role in the international community's support for the electoral process. An international summit should be called by the United Nations to launch a new regional mechanism that would include Afghanistan, its neighbours and, possibly, other relevant countries. This group should be given a mandate to focus on common regional issues and should be able to report issues of non-interference to the Security Council.

Specific proposals relating to economic issues included the need for sustained levels of donor resources and international attention to Afghanistan and for coordinated strategies that cut across sectors to address drug cultivation. In particular, capacity-building for police and cooperation with regional States are crucial components in combating drugs. More reconciliation efforts are needed to create an environment conducive to the return of minorities to their place of origin. Capacity-building in the private sector should not be overlooked.

I hope that these ideas and proposals raised in the panel will stimulate the debate that we are about to have and inform the conclusions we draw, as well as the resolution we will adopt on Afghanistan.

I now call on the representative of Germany to introduce draft resolution A/57/L.56.

Mr. Pleuger (Germany)

I have the honour to introduce this year's draft resolution on Afghanistan under items 37 and 21 (d) of the agenda of the General Assembly. Please allow me to underscore from the outset that Germany fully aligns itself with the statement of the European Union that will be made later by Denmark in its capacity as the Presidency of the European Union.

The date for the discussion and adoption of this year's draft resolution on Afghanistan was deliberately chosen by my delegation, in conjunction with the Secretariat, to commemorate the first anniversary of the Bonn Agreement. One year ago, representatives of Afghanistan met in Bonn, under the auspices of the United Nations, to discuss the future of their country. One year ago, the Afghans took their future into their own hands, seized an historic opportunity, ended a cycle of brutal civil war and poverty, and concluded the Bonn Agreement. The Agreement paved the way for a new start for Afghanistan -- for a better future that holds the prospect of political stability, economic reconstruction and peaceful development.

In the past year, Afghanistan has come a long way in many respects. The Emergency Loya Jirga was successfully held in June. President Karzai was elected and the Transitional Authority was established and will remain in office until the elections planned for 2004. The commissions mandated under the Bonn Agreement have been established. The Afghan police and army have been reconstituted and are being built up as a matter of priority. Afghanistan has a new currency. Economic life is reviving. Humanitarian aid is reaching those in need and schools are open once again.

At the same time, much remains to be done. We are all aware that it will take enormous effort and many years to achieve lasting stability in the country. The key impediment to the full implementation of the Bonn Agreement is the still precarious security environment and the limited authority of the Transitional Authority in the provinces. In this regard, I commend the important decision made by President Karzai last Monday in Bonn to substantially reform and restructure the Afghan army. However, the increase of terrorist incidents in Kabul since the Emergency Loya Jirga, especially the attack against President Karzai, constitutes a source of serious concern.

Therefore, the United Nations and the international community must remain committed to Afghanistan. The people of Afghanistan will gain courage when they see that the international community continues to care about them. The conference that my Government convened earlier this week in Bonn responded to those feelings by sending a clear signal to the Afghan people: "We stand by you".

This year's draft resolution, as found in document A/57/L.56 and which I have the honour to introduce today, renews that message to the Afghan people on behalf of the United Nations. It has been drafted jointly by many delegations in a spirit of support for the people and Government of Afghanistan. The large number of sponsors -- more than 120 -- is yet another sign that, despite crises in other regions, Afghanistan still tops the international community's list of priorities.

Let me quickly highlight some of the key aspects of the text. This year's draft resolution had to incorporate the new political situation in Afghanistan following the conclusion of the Bonn Agreement. It also takes into account the views expressed in the General Assembly's recent panel discussion that you, Sir, summarized just now.

It welcomes the positive developments taking place in Afghanistan, including the peaceful convening of the Emergency Loya Jirga, the election of President Karzai as Head of State and the establishment of the Transitional Authority and the commissions mandated under the Bonn Agreement. Furthermore, the draft resolution reaffirms the central role of the United Nations in international assistance efforts, calls for continued international support for the Transitional Authority in the implementation of the Bonn Agreement and endorses their priorities.

However, the draft resolution also emphasizes that the main responsibility for a sustainable political solution lies with the Afghan people themselves. Unless all Afghan groups respect the authority of the Transitional Authority and cooperate fully to implement the Bonn Agreement, a lasting peace cannot be obtained. Security must be restored throughout the country as a precondition for successful political and economic reconstruction. Let me mention also that the illegal production of narcotic drugs must be eradicated.

This year's draft resolution further highlights the progress that has been made in the humanitarian field, including the return of a large number of refugees and internally displaced persons and the success of education and health programmes. The new text reflects the fact that the emphasis of international assistance is shifting from humanitarian aid to transitional and long-term development assistance. It endorses the priority of the Transitional Authority and the efforts of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan in this context. However, more must be done. Economic and social reconstruction still have to follow the political settlement. This requires close collaboration of all actors within the United Nations system under the overall responsibility of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General, but also with other humanitarian organizations, the international community, Afghan authorities and Afghan civil society. All donor countries that pledged financial aid at the International Conference on Reconstruction Assistance to Afghanistan held in Tokyo need to fulfil their assumed commitments and all States need to continue to provide humanitarian assistance and support the Transitional Authority through actual funding.

For many years now, Germany has shown a special commitment to Afghanistan, bilaterally as well as within the United Nations. This builds on a long-standing tradition of exchange between the Afghan and German peoples in the cultural and academic sectors. The present German commitment embraces, inter alia, many projects in the spheres of education and human rights, as well as the lead role in setting up the Afghan police force. From day one, we seconded a considerable number of troops to the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). And, together with the Netherlands, Germany will assume the leadership of ISAF in the coming weeks. Furthermore, for over a decade, my delegation has taken pride in introducing the General Assembly's resolution on Afghanistan.

These efforts are made on the understanding that the international community must help the Afghan people find their way to a stable, peaceful and unified State. Many interested States and groups have contributed and still need to contribute to these goals. I would like to stress the key role of the United Nations in this context. The United Nations is and will remain the key body to aid and support our Afghan friends in rebuilding their society, their economy and their country. The United Nations has admirably assumed these tasks.

I wish to take this opportunity to thank the Secretary-General, his Special Representative, Ambassador Lakhdar Brahimi, and the staff of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan for their tireless efforts. Germany will continue to consistently support the United Nations efforts in this area with all the means at its disposal. We hope jointly to achieve the goal of a peaceful and free Afghanistan that will play its part in ensuring the region's long-term stability.