The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Wednesday said government will attend the Geneva Conference on Afghanistan and will try to create a single definition of “Afghanistan’s peace” for regional and world countries attending the summit.
The conference will be held on November 27 and 28.
Nasir Ahmad Andisha, Deputy Foreign Minister for Management and Resources, said they hoped to bring together foreign powers and regional stakeholders regarding peace in Afghanistan.
“Our definition of peace should be the same and depending on this, competition (among different nations) should move in one direction so we can stop the lack of coordination either on a regional level or inside Afghanistan,” said Andisha.
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.
Meanwhile, Integrity Watch Afghanistan, a Kabul-based monitoring organization, said government has not done enough to fight corruption, improve governance and ensure transparency in Afghanistan’s mines ahead of the Geneva Conference.
“The issues that have happened in the past six months show a roll-back in fighting corruption and big corruption cases and also in establishing transparency in the mining sector,” said Nasir Temori, a researcher at Integrity Watch Afghanistan.
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.
“Afghanistan’s government has not achieved anything. Corruption is on the rise, insecurity and drug smuggling are other problems, unemployment is another problem. Considering all these issues, government is about to attend this summit with no achievements (having been made),” said Abdul Rahim, an MP.
“Government has not met the international community’s expectations in its activities but it may have been proven already to the international community that the Afghan government does have the will to fight corruption,” said Akbar Stanikzai, an MP.
Sources say that on the second day of the Geneva Conference, six countries involved in the Afghan peace process will meet behind closed doors to discuss the issue.
