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By
Kevin Rudd |
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The
international interest in reconstruction of Afghanistan
offers the best hope in a qurter of a century for a shattered
country to run tragedy into opportunity.The trouble is that
the interest may not last.
Expectations may not be met and only the stoic will still
be here in next year's time when international televiosn
broadcasters have moved onto a world's next telegenic crises.The
test for the international community is to stay the distance.There
are five fundamental challnges.
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| In a command performance
laced with humility, eloquence, fair play and a firm resolve to seek
peace with dignity, President Parvez Musharraf forced Indian Prime
Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee to rise and shake hands with him, a
move that many believe could help deter the two countries from their
untenable logic of war. Gen Musharraf's speech at the opening session
of the 11th SAARC summit in Katmandu came three speakers ahead of
Vajpayee, which gave the Indian leader time to absorb its sudden and
urgent appeal as also occasion to rephrase his own draft. Criticizing
the organization for losing its way somewhat, President Musharraf
suggested a remedy thus: "The way forward is to make SAARC genuinely
potent and through it sink differences, resolve disputes on the basis
of sovereign equality. Let none amongst us consider himself more equal
than others." The above remarks should have wound up his speech.
But then in a gesture to which even his senior aides were not privy,
he turned to Vajpayee and said: "As I step down from this podium,
I extend a genuine and sincere hand of friendship to Prime Minister
Vajpayee. Together we must commence the journey for peace, harmony
and progress in South Asia." As Gen Musharraf then moved Sufficient
security must be restored for the short-term humanitarian and medium-term
reconstruction tasks.Without security,food will
not get to where it is most needed, rebuilding will not happen and
people will continue to die.Britan's
lead in |
bringing in a
multinational force now is to be commended. The force
should be big enough to restore security to the capital
and the countryside. It will need to be deployed long
enough to make a real difference.
There is the massive problem of mine clearance. Afghanistan
is the most mined country in the world. This problem is
now compounded by unexploded ordnance from the air attacks.
Mine clearance is of fundamental importance to every United
Nations mission, whether it is repatriation of refugees,
emergency food delivery or rebuilding basic infrastructure.
The U.N. Mine Action Program had planned to spend $30
million each year to de-mine the country over 12 years.
To hasten clearance of unexploded weapons, it has appealed
for $34 million for the next six months. This funding
needs to be met now.
There is the immediate humanitarian task of keeping millions
of Afghans alive as winter sets in amid widespread insecurity
after four years of drought. UNICEF is worried that one
in three children, or 400,000 each year, will die before
age 5. After 23 years of conflict, power, water and roads
have been badly damaged and there is no functioning education
or health system. |
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Nor
is there a functioning civil service to support the interim
government that took office in late December. A comprehensive
report is being prepared for a meeting this month in Tokyo of
governments and organizations providing aid to Afghanistan.
Japan and the United States are taking the lead, but the international
community should be under no illusions that the bill will not
be huge. The bottom line is that unless at least a semi-viable
state emerges in Afghanistan, the prospect of repatriating and
resettling more than 7 million displaced Afghans is remote.
Finally, there is the question of coordination.
The United Nations is doing a good job so far on the humanitarian
and reconstruction fronts. But projected U.N. budgets for Afghanistan
are modest compared with big bilateral aid programs being planned
by the United States, Japan and some European states. Many governments,
it seems, plan to do their own thing.
Given the enormous challenge,
all major donor states should agree to appoint a single coordinator-general
for reconstruction to direct both the bilateral and the multilateral
effort. Some governments may see this as curbing the pursuit
of their national interests in Afghanistan. For the people,
however, it is a necessity. The hope is that maybe this time,
after more than 150 years of failed foreign interventions, the
international community may get it right. |
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