Tokyo, Japan, 20 January 2002 It
is with a sense of hope and optimism that representatives
of the Aga Khan Development Network are participating in
this international conference, of such great importance
for the future of Afghanistan and the region as a whole.
The Aga Khan Development Network has had many decades of
history, long-term commitment and deep involvement in contributing
to peace and prosperity in this complex region of the world,
and we are honoured to have been invited to this conference
and to be given the opportunity to make this statement.
On
behalf of His Highness the Aga Khan, we extend our warmest
congratulations to Chairman Karzai and the Interim Administration
for the wisdom, courage and determination shown to pursue
the multiple goals of peace, social justice, democracy,
pluralism and development discussed in Bonn. Allow
me also to express our deep admiration to the Secretary-General’s
Special Representatives Lakhdar Brahimi and Francesc Vendrell
for their perseverance and continuous encouragement of this
process. Also to be commended today are the members of the
Afghan Support Group who have been steadfastly committed
to the fate of the peoples of Afghanistan, as well as the
Afghanistan Reconstruction Steering Group and the host of
this conference, Japan.
Today's
occasion is particularly important for the peoples of Afghanistan
and the surrounding region as the moral, political and economic
commitments made at this conference will provide the vital
means for this volatile region to have a real chance at
achieving and sustaining peace and prosperity into the future.
Since the start of our institutional work in Afghanistan
seven years ago, our primary interest has been, and remains,
to enable the people of Afghanistan to decide their future,
to rebuild their nation, relieved of the continuing risk
of starvation, and economic and social collapse.
We
would like to reiterate our long-term commitment to this
region of which Afghanistan and we are an integral part
of its peoples. The Development Network is already
scaling up its efforts, in collaboration and with the support
of the international community, to enable Afghans to transform
their existence from extreme poverty, to choice and opportunity,
within a context that safeguards, for each of them, their
right to their own identities, and to preserve and practice
their faiths and traditions. . In this regard, we would
like particularly to recall the Islamic ethical principles
that emphasize the right of each individual to the interpretation
of his faith without coercion; respect for life, compassion
and sharing; inclusiveness; self-reliance; social responsibility
for the greater good; the pursuit and use of knowledge for
the benefit for all; and good governance.
Mr.
Chairman, distinguished delegates, ladies and gentlemen:
The
importance of meeting the needs of the region as a whole
cannot be stated strongly enough. The international community’s
real resolve will be tested and we sincerely hope that it
will not be found wanting- or else we all risk losing a
unique opportunity to create a more just and stable world.
With respect to the Aga Khan Development Network, as some
here today are already aware, we have embarked since years
on a number of significant long term development initiatives
in the region, including, most recently, in partnership
with Tajikistan, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, the establishment,
by international treaty, of the University of Central Asia,
the first private regional university dedicated to studying
and improving the livelihoods of people living in high mountain
areas. As soon as conditions allow, we hope that Afghanistan
will wish to associate itself with this initiative, as part
of a wider development endeavor for the country.
His
Highness the Aga Khan would like to announce today a multi-year
financial commitment, which will be no less than US $75,000,000,
to enable the Aga Khan Development Network to conceptualise
and implement a recovery, reconstruction and long-term development
programme that will span many regions of the country.
It will range in scope from agriculture-based rural development;
food and seed security; rehabilitation of capital infrastructure;
to the provision and upgrading of health and education services
from the primary to the tertiary levels; institution and
capacity building especially at the community-level; and
the restoration of the cultural heritage for social inclusion.
In this task, we will draw on our long experience, going
back some 25 years, of the neighbouring region, including
post-conflict Tajikistan, and the extreme poverty and inter-communal
tensions of the isolated mountain regions of Northern Pakistan
In all these areas, we will continue to work closely with
other members of the international community.
Finally,
Mr. Chairman, distinguished delegates, ladies and gentlemen
let me emphasize three important additional dimensions:
The
first is the need to create a safety belt in the region
to support the establishment and long term sustainability
of peace in Afghanistan. The international community
should consider the vital necessity and importance of selective
investments in areas within the region that, due to a combination
of extreme poverty, isolation, and lack of opportunity and
perspectives, remain volatile and fertile grounds for permanent
instability.. Specific areas in Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan
and Uzbekistan require urgent support to mitigate the high
risk of violent protest.
The
second is the imperative of re-establishing the demography
of the country through the repatriation of the millions
of refugees outside Afghanistan. This must be done
in a way that fully recognises and respects the rights,
cultures, and traditions of each of the country’s ethnic
communities and that enables them to live collectively in
peace and harmony. In this context, it will be necessary
to find ways of ensuring that these refugees are protected,
and are able to claim back the assets they have lost, for
without this, ensuring the stability of these returning
communities and families risks remaining an elusive hope.
Similarly,
the reintegration of former combatants into civil society
will be a critical factor in the establishment of peace.
Through its multi-faceted interventions in the economic,
social and cultural sectors of the country, the Aga Khan
Development Network hopes to be able to contribute
to this difficult and complex process, as it has done in
Tajikistan.
The
third is the need to revive or create new competent, stable,
transparent and accountable institutions through which the
processes of building confidence, strengthening democracy
and fostering development can be channelled. These
institutions need to emerge from and respond to the needs
of the majority of the population.
Finally,
life and its material outcomes are a result of everything
that happens within the social, economic, political and
cultural contexts of people’s existence. We would,
therefore, urge the international community to look for
appropriate balances between sectoral approaches and wider,
more integrated area-based approaches to development.
Mr.
Chairman, distinguished delegates, together we have an opportunity
to grasp the challenge of helping to rebuild Afghanistan
– and succeed. This hope has been rekindled by the
establishment of the Interim Administration. The commitments
made today will lay the foundation for the regeneration
of the country and its people, and an opportunity to re-orientate
and enhance its capacity for self-reliance. In this effort
we are Afghanistan’s partner from here, and onwards far
into the future..
Thank
you for allowing us the opportunity to share this with you.
Delivered by Mr. Aly
Mawji, Aga Khan Development Network Country Co-ordinator
for Afghanistan, at the International Conference on Reconstruction
Assistance to Afghanistan
Mr.
Chairman, our hosts Japan, distinguished delegates, ladies
and gentlemen,
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