Press release, 1 June
2014
Members of the NATO PA
Committee on the Civil Dimension of Security started their meeting with the analysis
of the achievements in Afghanistan. German parliamentarian Ulla Schmidt presented
a draft general report entitled Political
Transition in Afghanistan: Achievements and Challenges in which she reviewed
the developments that had taken place over the 11 years. A lot of attention was
also given to the second round of presidential elections in Afghanistan.
The rapporteur notes
a number of positive developments in Afghanistan. Coalition and Afghan
troops have largely stabilised the country, creating opportunities for local
business communities and new media outlets. Many urban Afghans believe that the
international community’s civil efforts have offered incentives and room for
the development of a more liberal and open society. An active and self-confident civil society has
emerged in the cities of the country. Various educational opportunities have arisen,
and, as a result, the best-educated generation in two decades has emerged – the
first generation without direct war experience. According to the data at the
disposal of Ulla Schmidt, currently, 83% of the Afghan children go to school,
1/3 of them are girls. The draft report stresses that the country’s president
has recently announced a number of initiatives to improve women’s rights and a
quota for women in the parliament has been adopted.
At the same time,
Afghanistan faces a number of challenges: people who want to express their will
in elections receive direct threats. Implementing structural reform in public
administration and building up a competent, effective and appropriately staffed
civil service will require a sustained long-term endeavour. Corruption is still
pervasive.
“It is estimated that
in 2012 alone, Afghans paid some USD 3.9 billion in bribes, while the entire annual
national budget is less than USD 8 billion,” said the rapporteur.
Violations of human
rights, especially women’s rights, occur in more remote areas of the country. The
number of Afghan women killed and injured in the conflict increased again in
2013 (235 women killed and 511 injured), an increase of 36% from 2012.
The draft report
underlines that despite the demise of the Taliban, Afghanistan remains an
extremely conservative Muslim country. The clerics enjoy an immense influence
on the population. Observers note
that the
influence of religious conservatives has grown in Afghanistan in recent years,
which manifested itself in riots against the alleged disrespect of Islam by
members of the international coalition.
In the opinion of
Ulla Schmidt, it is, therefore, critically important for the international
community to retain an adequate level of support for Afghanistan beyond 2014,
with an even stronger focus on the rule of law and human rights protection,
strengthening at the same time the Afghan institutions consistently, training
the police forces and the judges and prosecutors in a well-coordinated manner.
“This country has a
lot of opportunities. There are plenty of people willing to fight for the
future of Afghanistan. They are already tired of the rule of warlords. They
want to change their country’s future and ask for our support and help to find
their way to the future. And we must do this,” emphasises the parliamentarian
from Germany.
Ulla Schmidt finds it
reassuring that the turnout of the Afghanistan population in the first round of
presidential elections was almost twice as high as in the previous elections.
About 60% of the population turned up and 1/3 of them were women.
Pakistani writer and
journalist Ahmed Rashid also shared his experience. According to him, it is for
the first time that the two leading candidates have reached out across the
ethnic divide. In 250 years of modern Afghan history, this would be the first
time that there would be a democratic transfer of power.
Please find more on
the NATO PA and the Spring Session here: www.lrs.lt/lt2014nato-pa.
Saulė Eglė Trembo, Public Relations Unit, Communications Department,
Office of the Seimas,
tel. +370 5 239
6203, e-mail: egle.trembo@lrs.lt
