28-01-2010

Mr. Secretary-General,
Mr. President,
Mr. Prime Minister,
Dear colleagues,

Let me first of all thank the UK Government, the United Nations and President Karzai for organizing this Conference on Afghanistan, and thank particularly our UK-colleagues for hosting it.

I obviously support the points made by Catherine Ashton on behalf of the European Union.

I would like to express my country’s support for the final communiqué. We have heard today several clear commitments by President Karzaï and his government. I consider this a good step in the right direction. What is necessary now is their timely and proper implementation. We, together with the international community, will remain vigilant to insure that concrete progress will be achieved. To that end, a number of clear benchmarks should be set. We encourage President Karzai and his new Government to work towards that end and hope that a follow-up conference, possibly in Kabul later in the year, will be able to show results.

In the field of governance, let me recall a few priority areas where my country particularly expects clear progress:
- Improved governance at all levels is crucial. The new government should be able to deliver rapid and tangible results in this field. I particularly think in this context of the appointment – based on merits - of governors and senior civil servants.
- Decisive action should be taken against corruption. This means establishing credible mechanisms to deal with corruption and appoint the right people at the right place. The final communiqué sets out a number of concrete proposals to that end.
-  Stronger action against drug production and trafficking. We support in that context the updated National Drugs Control Strategy as presented by the Afghan Government.
- It is essential to improve the protection of human rights, especially for women, to ensure access to justice and to guarantee better access to social services.  Let me underline - in this context – the importance of education, including vocational training.
- I welcome the decision of the Independent Election Commission (IEC) to hold the Parliamentary elections on September 18th. The IEC has thus foreseen the necessary time to prepare for the elections and to improve the electoral system. The
Afghan government should rapidly initiate a review process with UNAMA, based on lessons learned, and implement needed reforms based on recommendations from the UNDP and the observation mission of the European Union.
- A crucial sector for the economic development of Afghanistan is agriculture. It is important that we strive, together with the Afghan Government, to further develop and diversify the agriculture, inter alia as an alternative to the poppy culture.

In order to contribute to this, Belgium is already orienting its financial contributions towards the areas of local governance, human rights and agriculture.

Civilian-Military strategy

It is important to recall why the International Community is engaged in Afghanistan at such a scale. Our action, together with the Afghan authorities, is aimed at strengthening our collective security. A stable Afghanistan, in a stable region, will have a positive influence on the stability in the rest of the world.

It is however clear that there is no pure military solution for the challenges we face in Afghanistan. Only a combined civilian-military strategy will bear results. I therefore agree with those who plead for a civilian surge. An increased civilian effort, in close cooperation with the Afghan Government, should be able to raise the public acceptance of our action in Afghanistan. This implies however that we have to create an acceptable security environment enabling this civilian surge to effectively reach the Afghans.

In this civilian-military strategy the concept of Afghan ownership is central, not least in the field of security.   The Afghans themselves should, as soon as feasible, take the lead in securing their country.  My government therefore supports the accelerated ‘Afghanisation’ of the security structures, inter alia through the proposed plan agreed between NATO and the Government of Afghanistan on transition – province by province – of security responsibilities.

The issue of reconciliation and reintegration is high on our agenda today. The ‘Peace and Reconciliation’ initiative of the Afghan Government that was presented today is a significant political step and should be properly supported by the international community.

Regional framework/International Architecture

Increased civilian action demands more and effective coordination among the international actors on one side and between these actors and the Afghanistan Government on the other side.

Belgium believes that the United Nations are best suited to play a central role in coordinating the international efforts in Afghanistan. In this context, I would like to thank Mr. Kai Eide for the remarkable job he has done and he is still doing.

I furthermore believe that some high level appointments will indeed lead to a more effective international approach. The new Special Representative of the United Nations, the new NATO Senior Civilian Representative and a new EU Ambassador in Kabul will all have the responsibility to improve coordination and effectiveness of the civilian action.

The stabilization of Afghanistan is also heavily dependent on what is happening in the broader region. I am therefore convinced that Afghanistan and its neighbors should promote stability through regional integration and cooperation. This cooperation should focus on concrete measures such as trade, infrastructure, transportation, border management and people to people exchanges.

We therefore believe that today’s Conference can mark a new step in realizing the shared commitment to improve the lives of the Afghan people.

Only spoken word prevails