Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2005-05-10-Speech-2-098"
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"en.20050510.13.2-098"2
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Mr President, honourable Members of the European Parliament, ladies and gentlemen, I am delighted and honoured to address this distinguished gathering, particularly as this is my first visit to the European Parliament. It gives me great confidence for the future of Afghanistan and our region to see the countries of Europe come together here in a spirit of unity and cooperation. It was not long ago that the Iron Curtain divided Europe into West and East. Yet, today, that curtain has been removed to reveal a mosaic, where each piece retains a distinct identity, but together form a greater entity.
Here, I would like to narrate a story to you that I witnessed about two and a half months ago. Two and a half months ago, I was having lunch with a group of tribal elders from a very conservative part of Afghanistan, and I noticed that with these tribal elders and clergy there were women. I felt as if the women were from the urban parts of the country, and I greeted the tribal chiefs by name. I knew many of them by name, and I said: ‘Mr so-and-so welcome and how are you?’. When I had finished greeting the men, I said to the ladies: ‘Welcome and good to see you’. Suddenly one of the ladies got up and said: ‘Mr President, you greeted the men by name. You did not greet us by name’. I was shocked. I said: ‘Well, madam, I am sorry I did not know your name’. She said: ‘You know, you are elected because of our vote. Next time I see you, you had better know my name or you will not be elected!’.
That is the change in Afghanistan for which we are very happy.
The presence of the International Security Assistance Force, led by Europe from the beginning, has provided us with a secure environment to exercise our political rights. With help from Europe and others in the international community, we have trained a new police force of some 50 000, along with a special force to conduct counter-narcotics operations. The new Afghan National Army, currently 20 000 strong, is increasingly taking responsibility for supporting security across the country. We are accelerating the disarmament process, disarming both regular armed forces and
armed groups. More than 50 000 former combatants have been disarmed, and over 95% of the heavy weaponry has been cantoned.
Extensive reforms are also under way in other sectors, including the judiciary and the civil service – the administration. Our judicial system is
recovering in effectiveness and credibility from the damages of war. Institutions of government and civil society are gaining increasingly in strength, giving the citizens more confidence, more services and more rights to enjoy. The Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission continues the important work of promoting human rights throughout the country. Thanks to the open political atmosphere in Afghanistan, the free press has enjoyed great development and success, as demonstrated by the publication of more than 300 independent papers, more than 30 independent radio stations and four independent television channels in less than two years.
We realised that political and security developments can be sustained only with corresponding improvements in the economic area. Over the last three years, we have introduced a new currency, stabilised inflation and enacted numerous legal and administrative reforms to simplify our customs and investment processes. As a result, hundreds of millions of dollars in international investment have flowed into Afghanistan. Certain industries, such as the hospitality sector, banks and mobile communications, have particularly benefited. Wages have increased, as has trade and commerce with countries of the region, notably Pakistan, Iran, Tajikistan, China and beyond. I should like to give an example here of the changes that have occurred. Three years ago, Afghanistan’s trade with Pakistan was less than USD 50 million. Last year, this trade – in less than three years – surpassed USD 1 billion. Today, trade between Pakistan and Afghanistan amounts to USD 1 billion. The same applies to China and other countries around us.
Much has been done so far, but daunting challenges remain ahead of us. Afghanistan’s social development indicators are still dismal: we have one of the
infant mortality rates and one of the
life expectancy rates in the world; and we have unacceptable levels of illiteracy, particularly among women. Sadly, these social indicators place our country close to the bottom of the human development index: in fact, fifth from the bottom.
Terrorism has been defeated as a force, but its residues disturb our peace and tranquillity. While critical steps to establish an effective government have been taken, the ability of the new institutions to provide security and help lift the population out of extreme poverty is far from adequate. Poppy cultivation and the drug economy are still afflicting our communities and remain obstacles to Afghanistan’s stability.
I wish to depart from my prepared speech to explain to you what is happening in Afghanistan with regard to the drug economy – the cultivation of poppies. Thirty years ago, when the former Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan, Afghanistan was a somewhat well-to-do agrarian society. In the years of conflict, drought and difficulties for the Afghan people, Afghan men and women – families, fathers, mothers, daughters – had no hope for the future. A father, a mother did not know whether their son or daughter would be alive or dead the next day; whether they would have food to eat or be hungry. In that situation, people destroyed vineyards and replaced them with poppies; people destroyed pomegranate orchards and replaced them with poppies; people destroyed apricot orchards and replaced them with poppies, because poppies were easy to grow – there was not much need for irrigation – and easy to sell. Therefore, because of a lack of confidence in the future and a lack of means, society became involved in that easy crop.
Last year, we began action against poppy cultivation, and the people responded because they have more hope for the future: they have more confidence in their country and in themselves. We hope that there will be a considerable reduction in poppy cultivation this year in Afghanistan, a great part of it voluntarily. My hope, and that of the Afghan people, is that the international community will continue to assist us in decreasing poppy cultivation in Afghanistan and to replace it with legitimate forms of agriculture. In other words, to replace it with alternative forms of livelihood, so that our people can return to growing vines, pomegranates, apricots and the other agricultural products which Afghanistan is very good at cultivating.
Two days ago, Europe celebrated the 60th anniversary of the Victory in Europe day, the anniversary of Europe’s new beginning. While in the past, European conflicts had global implications, today European cooperation is improving lives and is a source of admiration across the world.
Afghanistan produces the best pomegranates, the best foods; it can compete in international markets. Please continue to help us bring a legitimate economy to the Afghan people again. Nobody wants to have a bad name in the world, and Afghanistan is no exception. Afghanistan wants to live an honourable life, a life where it can return to generating its own legitimate income. I am grateful for what you have done for us so far, but please continue to help us.
Parliamentary elections in September will mark the culmination of the Bonn process in Afghanistan. The Afghan constitution decrees that at least 27% of members of the Afghan Parliament should be women.
Yet, while we will have met all the benchmarks set out in the Bonn Agreement by the end of September, we will only be at the beginning of a long road towards achieving the vision set out for Afghanistan in that document. The end of the Bonn process, therefore, must not be the end of your commitment to and support for Afghanistan, but the beginning of a long-term and more comprehensive partnership. The end of the Bonn process will not mean the success of Afghanistan or the total success of Afghanistan. The end of the Bonn process, the coming of the parliament, will lay the foundations for the success of Afghanistan but not constitute success itself. Success itself will take many more years to come, and for that your help is needed.
From Europe, we need support and the assurance that Afghanistan will continue to receive assistance in a sustainable manner. In particular, as you deliberate here about the European Union’s future international commitments, I hope you will see the need for multi-year pledges of aid to Afghanistan to support our efforts at rebuilding our country.
We also need the United Nations, the United States, Japan and others who have assisted us so far to reaffirm their commitment to partnership with Afghanistan: a partnership that is essential if Afghanistan is to achieve lasting stability, democratisation and development.
Allow me to take this opportunity to thank you once again, on behalf of the Afghan people, for the generous support that the European Union, as one of the largest donors to Afghanistan, has provided over the last three years. The people of Afghanistan are especially grateful to your sons and daughters in uniform who are serving courageously in our country. To those who have given their lives to provide us with security, we offer once again our gratitude, our prayers and our pledge that we will never forget.
Today in Afghanistan, in a country which, not long ago, was totally isolated from the world, something unprecedented is taking place. In a true spirit of cooperation, people from all corners of the world, people from different faiths, cultures and backgrounds, are together helping to secure the lives of the Afghan people and rebuild our country. It is clear that without this cooperation Afghans would never have accomplished what we have accomplished over the past three years.
Afghanistan is as much in need of your help today as Europe was 60 years ago. Then, a long-term commitment from your friends around the world gave you the support you needed to rebuild your countries, your lives. Today, we are asking for that same opportunity. Thank you for what you have done so far for us. We are very grateful.
As you rebuilt after the Second World War, you had security guarantees, the Marshall Plan, and an international long-term commitment. We, the people of Afghanistan, are also grateful for the international security and economic support we have received over the last three years. The European Union, in particular, has been one of the largest supporters of Afghanistan. We are grateful for your generous contributions, the commitment of troops from your nations, and the technical assistance you have provided and continue to provide. Most importantly, you show us what our region’s future could be: a future of peace, a future of unity, and a future of cooperation.
Afghanistan was one of the least-developed countries, even before its invasion by the former Soviet Union. Ten years of fighting the Soviet invasion, followed by more than a decade of foreign interference and factional conflict, further impoverished our country. Our infrastructure was almost totally destroyed, our communities devastated and our state institutions crippled.
The long and dark years of suffering, however, did not dampen our aspirations to build a stable, democratic and prosperous Afghanistan. Given that opportunity in 2001, the people of Afghanistan enthusiastically began the process of rebuilding our country. Today, we have an enlightened and progressive constitution which safeguards human rights, guaranteeing the equality of men and women, provides for a free-market economy and creates a framework for responsible government.
The first presidential election in our history was held last October in which more than eight million people participated. The success of the election graphically illustrated the defeat of terrorism in Afghanistan.
In particular, the massive participation by the women of Afghanistan, 42% of the national turnout, demonstrated emphatically that a new era of social and political rights for women had arrived."@en1
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