The Afghan government is prepared for the Geneva Conference on Afghanistan and according to the Ministry of Finance, government hopes that the international community will pledge continued support to Afghanistan during the event.
The conference will be held on November 27 and 28.
According to the United Nations, the aim of the Geneva Conference is for the international community to show their solidarity with the people of Afghanistan and government over their efforts to restore peace and stability; and for the Afghan government to renew its commitment to development and reform.
Afghan government’s commitments include fighting corruption, establishing good governance, holding a transparent election, and bringing transparency to the mining sector. These key commitments were made by government at the Brussels Summit last year – commitments that will be discussed at the Geneva Conference.
“We have done all our duties and responsibilities regarding the commitments we made at the Brussels Conference and we are ready to present them,” said Shamroz Khan Masjidi, spokesman for the Ministry of Finance.
Ten members of civil society organizations will also attend the Geneva Conference.
“These representatives will present a real image of Afghanistan’s situation to the international community – not the situation which is explained by government,” said Naeem Ayubzada, head of Transparent Election Foundation of Afghanistan.
“We want to portray the things that we have collected from the people of Afghanistan and at the Geneva Conference, we will say what the people’s problems are in which kind of situation they are living,” said Frozan Rasul, deputy head of peace and democracy organization.
A monitoring organization meanwhile said that government has not delivered on its commitments made at the Brussels Summit.
“An increase in mining-generated revenue was one of the promises which we have not achieved but also work has been done that is in contravention of the law, when it comes to the mining sector in Afghanistan,” said Nasir Temori, a researcher at Integrity Watch Afghanistan – which has conducted a number of studies in the past into the mining sector.
The women’s empowerment program until mid-2017, and the citizen charter program in 2,000 villages until December 2017, are other commitments made by the Afghan government to the international community – which an MP said will be raised at the conference.
“One of the main parts of the conference is talks on Afghanistan’s peace which will be held on the second day,” said Masjidi.
The Geneva Conference
The Afghan government and the United Nations are expected to host the conference in Geneva on November 27 and 28 where foreign countries are expected to renew their commitment and solidarity with the Afghan people and the Afghan government in its bid to bring about peace and security.
The conference provides a platform for the Afghan government and international community to demonstrate progress and commitment and maintain the momentum for presidential elections and opportunities for peace and security.
The conference also aims to emphasize the importance and the implementation of mutual commitments made by the Afghan government and the international community towards reform and development and in measuring results against the $15.2 billion committed by the international community for Afghanistan in 2016.
In August, the World Bank said that the Geneva conference on Afghanistan in November will be important for the country so as to ensure continued support by the international community towards Afghanistan in years to come.
Speaking to TOLOnews, World Bank country director for Afghanistan Shubham Chaudhuri said at the time that at the conference, donors will assess the performance of the National Unity Government and its programs in order to boost Afghanistan’s economic situation in the future and to improve good governance.
The Geneva Ministerial Conference on Afghanistan will be held between two pledging conferences: the Brussels Conference on Afghanistan (2016) and the next pledging conference expected to be held in 2020.
