Source: United Kingdom Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) 12 May 2005
Your Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, I'm certainly delighted to be here with you this afternoon, this my first public engagement, and am particularly grateful that so many experts from around the world have been able to join us.

May I welcome particularly Dr Abdullah and his Ministerial colleagues from the Afghan Government and senior advisers to the President. I'm grateful also to UN Special Representative Jean Arnault, and EU Special Representative Francesc Vendrell, for joining us. May I also thank all the speakers for your willingness to share with us your thoughts on the future of Afghanistan, and indeed everyone here who's giving up your time to contribute to new thinking about the issues that are on the conference agenda, and as we've first heard from Isobelle Jaques, we do it in the spirit of the partnership between Afghanistan and the international community which has marked our efforts to date.

Now I am looking forward to making an early visit to Afghanistan. Those of you who've had the opportunity to live and work there know what an extraordinary country it is - rich in heritage and tradition, fierce in defence of that heritage, and equally determined now to embrace democracy and to play a full part in international life.

Afghanistan is at a critical juncture in its development. I think we're all conscious that huge political and social progress has been made over the past three years. Think about them for a moment - successful Presidential elections last year, with women making up 40% of the voters; a new Afghan National Army and National Police force; great progress made on the demobilisation of militia; new opportunities for education for boys and girls; new healthcare facilities rebuilt and millions of children vaccinated against measles and polio.

And the next important step forward in the democratic process - Parliamentary and Provincial elections – is less than four months away. By any measure that this is remarkable progress.

Yet, I think we would all agree, Afghanistan is still one of the world's poorest countries and insecurity and drugs remain formidable obstacles to further development. So it is critical that the Afghan people know that the international community stands ready to continue to support them as they address these tasks, for as long as they seek our assistance. And I hope this conference will help us all to clarify what the priorities, and the shape of that partnership, should be as we move beyond the main political benchmarks of the Bonn process.

From the UK perspective, our starting point is the Prime Minister's determination to support Afghanistan over the long term.

The Foreign Secretary reaffirmed to President Karzai, during his visit to Afghanistan in February, that the United Kingdom was fully committed to developing a long-term, strategic relationship with Afghanistan.

Last month the Prime Minister's Special Envoy to Afghanistan, General McColl, who we are very happy to have here today, made the first of what I am sure will be many visits to Afghanistan to discuss with President Karzai and members of the Government the challenges facing Afghanistan and the role the UK could play in meeting them.

And if I could discuss very briefly first, security.

It remains the case that without peace and security rebuilding a country devastated by decades of war is impossible.

The 9,000 military and civilian personnel from the 37 countries contributing to the NATO-led ISAF (International Security Assistance Force) and PRTs (Provincial Reconstruction Teams) have played a key role in helping to bring about peace and resolve deep-rooted conflict across Afghanistan. And there's been an ongoing important role for Operation Enduring Freedom, primarily in the South and East, continuing to counter the threat from insurgents and other opposition forces.

But the long term answer must of course be the building up of an effective Afghan National Army and Police. In his remarks yesterday, President Karzai noted the importance of continuing international help for the ANA and the Afghan Police, in the context of developing the capacity to deal with the kind of disturbances we've seen in Afghanistan this week. Building the security forces has to be coupled with an effective programme of disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration for those who, for whatever reasons, have joined militias and armed groups in the past.

A particular challenge now is to tackle the problem of Illegal Armed Groups which could disrupt the electoral process and the Government's efforts to root out drug traffickers. I hope, therefore, that the Afghan Government will act quickly to agree a disarmament programme. A plan of action will help to focus the international community's attention, and build on existing funding support.

But meaningful security for the citizens of Afghanistan goes wider than the question of security forces – they need to know that the rule of law in the wider sense prevails, a task which the Italian government has been leading the international support for the Afghan government. We have a particular interest in efforts to build up a Counter Narcotics Criminal Justice Task Force, to fast track counter narcotics cases within the criminal justice system, and a secure court and prison facility to handle major drug traffickers.

Building an effective and accountable state which protects Afghan citizens and delivers the services they need – be these health, education or judicial – is also critical for Afghanistan's future stability. As the political process develops and democratic institutions are established, people's expectations rise. The government must be able to deliver.

The international community needs to work closely and effectively with the Afghan Government to strengthen the process of policy and decision-making in key ministries. We also need to be ready to develop administrative capacity at provincial and district level.

And more generally, Afghanistan needs much greater short and long-term funding to help economic development take root. Transport, power and communications systems need to be built so that industry, farming and commerce can take firmer root.

The UK is the third largest bilateral donor to Afghanistan and the largest to the Afghanistan Reconstruction Trust Fund. We've pledged over £500 million over a 5 year period from 2002 to 2007.

We hope very much that our international partners will take the opportunity of the international donor conference we are hosting in London on 21June to take forward progress made at the Afghan Development Forum in April. We will encourage donors to make multi-year commitments, so that the Afghan Government has some greater predictability about its budget, and also to channel funding to the Counter-Narcotics, the Afghanistan Reconstruction and the Law and Order Trust Funds.

Counter Narcotics Strategy

Now, working to eliminate the drugs trade is vital for Afghanistan's future. While the UK has the lead role in co-ordinating international support for the Afghan government, the complexity and scale of the task means that only a sustained and committed Afghan and international effort has any chance of making a difference.

And I salute first of all the firm commitment President Karzai has shown to tackling the drug problem; his recognition of the challenge it represents to everything we are all trying to achieve, and to the moral and political health of the Afghan nation. President Karzai said in Brussels yesterday (11 May) that he expected poppy cultivation to be down by 30% this year. This is obviously good news. But it's essential that the downward trend is maintained.

Last year's increase in poppy cultivation only reinforced our determination to tackle the problem. The Afghan Counter Narcotics Implementation Plan for 2005 underlines President Karzai's and his Government's commitment to stamping out the drugs trade. The eight pillars of the Plan point the way but it will take time and it will take sustained international support and co-ordination to deliver success. Implementing work on the pillars requires very careful sequencing. Enhancing Afghan capacity to deliver alternative livelihoods is vital. Of course, all of this work must be underpinned by the necessary co-ordination structures in Kabul and in the provinces.

That is why it is all the more important that the international community increase its efforts to raise the necessary funds and provide practical assistance. The Counter Narcotics Trust Fund will increase Afghan capacity to deliver counter narcotics projects, enabling greater transparency and helping to enhance the authority of the Counter Narcotics Ministry under Minister Qaderi, who I'm very pleased to welcome here today.

As the lead nation, we are helping the Afghan government to develop a long-term counter narcotics strategy. It's crucial for us to establish wide agreement here – we must reach international consensus this summer on our long-term approach and ensure that we deliver progress against one common strategy. We are well aware that there are no instant solutions, and no short cuts to success.

Regional Co-operation

Support for Afghanistan's counter narcotics strategy will be a key objective for the UK's G8 Presidency this year. We're also developing ideas – with the Afghan government – for a G8 initiative to help to foster greater regional co-operation to expand trade flows across the region and of course to tackle the drugs trade. Afghanistan has the potential to become a 'land bridge' between Central Asia, South Asia and the Gulf. The economic benefits – in particular new markets for Afghan produce – could be immense. In this context, there is work for all of us to do in helping Afghanistan to develop a sustainable export trade, especially in agricultural products.

Conclusion

Your Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, Afghanistan faces many difficult and complex challenges and I hope you will be considering how the next stage of the partnership between Afghanistan and the international community might be defined. In all this, we believe there is a continuing leading role for the UN, and I salute the role UNAMA has played to date. Despite the disturbances in Jalalabad and Kabul this week, I hope our focus is moving beyond the pressing security concerns of the last few years, as we seek to address the challenges of administrative capacity building, and developing a sustainable economy based on legitimate trade.

The road ahead will not be an easy one. But I believe that, if we work together, there's every hope that Afghanistan will be a strong, prosperous nation, stable and democratic, within a region of growing economic opportunity.

I wish you all a very successful conference and look forward to seeing a report of your conclusions.

Thank you very much.