By Dr.Obaidullah Obaid, Ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan to the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
Following the Warsaw NATO Summit which was held in July and which was related to the security of Afghanistan, on 5th October the Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan together with the European Union will host the Brussels Conference on Afghanistan.
Donald Tusk, President of the European Council, High Representative Federica Mogherini and Neven Mimica, European Commissioner for Development Cooperation, will represent the European Union. President Ashraf Ghani and Chief Executive Dr. Abdullah Abdullah will represent Afghanistan.
This event will provide a platform for the Government of Afghanistan to set out its vision and track record on reform in the so called Transformation Decade. In this ten-year period (2015-2024) the country aims to build well-functioning institutions with a sustainable economy, while becoming less reliant on aid. For the international community it will be the opportunity to signal sustained political and financial support to peace, state-building and development and to reaffirm its commitment to its future peace, stability and prosperity by keeping support at or near current levels.
It will be the civilian counterpart to the Warsaw Summit, dedicated to the support of the progress in the country by securing commitments until 2020, and will be attended by representatives from 70 countries and 30 international organizations and agencies. There will also be bilateral meetings on the sideline of the Conference, as well as two special side events on 4th October that will focus on the topics of Gender and Regional Economic Cooperation respectively.
Since 2001, Afghanistan and its partners have made significant investments and booked lots of achievements, but there are still a lot more that needs to be done. There are significant political, security and economic challenges. Strong partnerships are required to make sure that the current reforms take hold and that Afghanistan will reach its goal of achieving self-reliance in the Transformation Decade. Strong commitments from our international partners are needed to ensure that we root out terrorism and violent extremism; and that we build strong institutions that are able to deliver quality basic services to all citizens.
The achievements of the Warsaw NATO Summit of last July will become complete with an equally strong expression of support in Brussels: security and development go hand in hand – one cannot exist without the other.
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Photography MH Siddiqi .
