General Assembly Session 61 meeting 58

The President

I now give the floor to the representative of Germany to introduce draft resolution A/61/L.25.

Mr. Matussek (Germany)

I have the honour today to introduce the General Assembly's draft resolution on the situation in Afghanistan. On this occasion, let me share a few thoughts with all of you.

One year ago, the United Nations looked forward to the formation of a freely elected Parliament of Afghanistan in December 2005. This step marked the successful completion of the Bonn process. This process has focused on institutional transition. Much was achieved since the Bonn Agreement of 2001. Within four years, Afghanistan has given itself a modern constitution and, after free presidential and parliamentary elections, formed a competent Government. The United Nations played a key role in helping to organize the transition.

Today, the United Nations continues to play a key and legitimate role in the reconstruction of Afghanistan within the framework of the Afghanistan Compact.

We commend the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) under Tom Koenigs' excellent leadership for its outstanding work under sometimes difficult conditions. Germany welcomes the expansion of UNAMA's presence throughout the country, security conditions permitting.

We appreciate that the Security Council recently visited Afghanistan to gain first-hand information.

After the successful process of institutional transition, the Afghanistan Compact redefined our shared vision for all sectors of Afghanistan's reconstruction until 2010.

The Compact reflects the renewed commitment of the international community in an Afghanistan that is now reassuming ownership of its future. And it also reflects an integrated approach to the four main sectors -- security, governance, development and combating the narcotics industry.

But the Compact is more than a broad political vision. It is a precise road map for Afghanistan and the international community with benchmarks and timelines.

In the past months we have been confronted with a number of challenges, especially in some provinces, namely, insecurity, a thriving drug industry and the lack of good governance. All these are threatening the achievements of the past years.

As the Secretary General states in his latest report,

"[t]he recent upsurge of violence represents a watershed. At no time since the fall of the Taliban in late 2001 has the threat to Afghanistan's transition been so severe" (A/61/326, para. 4).

About 4,000 Afghans were killed in the course of this year alone. The security situation in Afghanistan, especially, but not only, in the southern provinces, is serious. The United Nations-mandated International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) is confronted in the south with a new quality of insurgency and in the east with Taliban, Al Qaida and other extremist groups.

Opium production is at its highest level ever with an increase of almost 50 per cent in 2006. The southern province of Helmand has become the largest opium producer in the world. The drug industry in Afghanistan involves more than 2 million people and generates resources amounting to approximately $3 billion. This drug money fuels, to a large extent, insurgency and corruption throughout Afghanistan.

Lack of good governance and corruption are another key problem we are facing today. If the Afghan man and woman in the street cannot realize tangible progress in all parts of the country, we shall face the risk of losing support for our joint efforts to stabilize Afghanistan. More emphasis on the fight against corruption is necessary. We also need to multiply our efforts to build capacity in the Afghan administration. Reform of public administration has to be prioritized.

The Afghanistan Compact provides us with an excellent strategic approach to these challenges. We need to implement the objectives we have agreed upon in a more consistent manner.

I have already addressed the key issues of governance and the drug industry. As to security sector reform, we have registered some progress, but no major success yet, in spite of all our efforts. In the absence of more effective State forces, the disarmament of illegal militias remains slow. The Afghan National Army has reached only half of its planned strength. Nevertheless, this army provides valuable contributions to fighting the insurgency. It is respected by the people of Afghanistan.

The Afghan National Police has been provided with a well-trained leadership. It still lacks qualified, motivated manpower in the lower ranks. Germany, as the key partner on police reform, will encourage more partners to engage in police training in order to accelerate progress throughout the country. We welcome that the European Union will become more involved in justice sector reform. Quick progress in terms of law enforcement is also urgently needed.

In terms of economic and social recovery, advances have been made, but progress remains uneven. Insecurity and corruption hamper development in several regions. However, we should not overlook the achievements -- over 2,000 kilometres of roads have been repaired and tarred, many towns have been supplied with drinking water, the power supply has improved, about 80 per cent of the population now has access to health care, girls are returning to schools and women are reassuming functions in public life.

Many people in Afghanistan are now better off than five years ago and nobody is worse off than in 2001. We should recognize these achievements and work harder to achieve even more and prevent reversals in some regions.

Another key factor for stability and prosperity in Afghanistan is regional cooperation, in particular with Pakistan. We believe that both countries can only benefit from closer cooperation. We also welcome regional economic initiatives such as the second regional Economic Cooperation Conference, held recently in New Delhi.

In terms of implementation of the Afghanistan Compact, we should strengthen the Joint Coordination and Monitoring Board as the key instrument for coordinating and monitoring the reconstruction process. The Board assembles all stakeholders and major partners, and is jointly co-chaired by the Government of Afghanistan and UNAMA.

The challenge is, as it was put recently during the third session of the Board, to move from Compact to impact. We do not see a need for new instruments. Germany envisages hosting a Board session at the political level in 2007 during its Group of Eight presidency.

As to Germany's continued role, we have been involved in the international efforts since late 2001, when we hosted the Petersberg Conference to agree on the political transition after the fall of the Taliban regime. Since then, Germany has been a major donor and the lead nation on police reform.

We also continue to provide one of the largest troop contingents to the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). At this stage, almost 3,000 men and women are serving in Afghanistan. With the expansion this year of ISAF operations throughout the country, Germany took over the command of the northern region in Mazari Sharif.

Members may have noticed that this year's draft resolution consists for the first time of one single text. We have overcome the habit of adopting two texts focusing on security and on humanitarian issues, which increasingly overlapped. Last year, moreover, many delegations also expressed the wish to adopt this format.

The draft resolution before the Assembly, while carrying more than 90 per cent of the consensus language of previous years, is now structured like the Afghanistan Compact. It includes security, governance, development and counter-narcotics. We believe that by adopting this draft resolution today the General Assembly will not only prove its ability to change its habits; the message will be that the Assembly endorses the Afghanistan Compact. The number of sponsors -- well over 100 -- emphasizes that message.

The overall prospects may be less optimistic than a year ago. We believe that we have recognized the challenges and that we have the means to meet them. The commitments made to the United Nations, NATO, the European Union and other organizations and institutions should be honoured by all of us.

We should not lose sight of the unparalleled achievements in Afghanistan since 2001, nor underestimate the risks of failure for this country, the region and the whole international community. Much more has to be done in the future. Together we remain committed to create a free, democratic and prosperous Afghanistan.