Merci pour cette invitation. Je vais essayer de vous donner tres brievement un opinion Afghan non pas seulement du point de vue des progres et accomplissements, mais surtout sur la situation actuelle et les defies don't nous faisons face ensemble.

First some facts that we cannot ignore:

Afghanistan underwent almost 25 years of continuous warfare, destruction and exodus, including that of its intelligentsia. Afghans suffered but did not lose hope as it sunk into a failed state mode used by extremists to launch attacks on the rest of the world.

UN Sec. General Ban Ki-Moon recently wrote: “Remember Sept. 11, 2001, and its worldwide reverberations. We learned then how a country, shorn of its civic institutions, becomes a vacuum to be filled by criminals and opportunists. In its chaos and poverty, Afghanistan became a home base for terrorism.” He then asked: “Must we learn that lesson all over again?”

Most Afghans agree. The reaction of certain groups who call for a disengagement or
withdrawal is unrealistic and dismaying. The UN Sec. General calls it “a misjudgment of historic proportions…”

Since 2001 and the ouster of the Taliban from the country, life has changed dramatically and expectations have risen as the hard work of rebuilding a society and an economy began in earnest with the strong re-engagement of the international community. It is also true that the Afghan development baseline was at the lowest levels.

We also cannot ignore the fact there is obvious progress. From access to education for boys and girls to immunization programmes and lower infant mortality rates, from demining to access to safe water.

From a vibrant media to new roads, and from women’s participation in public and political life to the continued buildup of the Afghan Army. These are all real-time achievements in a young democracy. Is it sufficient and are we around the bend? No. We are at the tip of the iceberg, if I may use that analogy.

Where do we stand six years later?

Afghanistan remains in the bottom five poorest countries in the world and insecurity in about a third of the country, mostly along the provinces that border the tribal belt with Pakistan, represents a major impediment to development and government services.

Taliban, armed groups, terrorism and narcotics continue to pose challenges, inhibiting the peace process; and governance is challenged by human capital and capacity constraints, weak rule of law and corruption.

Only a few days ago, the Afghan President identified terrorism as our nation's biggest challenge, which he said must be fought by “targeting its original sources, drying up its finance sources and stopping the expansion of extremism.”

Afghans do not believe the recent observation that Afghanistan is facing imminent risk of becoming a failed state again, but there are signs of fragility that are of concern. Today, we must do everything possible not only to stem the insurgency along the tribal belt, but also to prevent it from seeping into relatively stable parts of Afghanistan that are enjoying growth.

Meanwhile, my government has extended an olive branch to those Afghans who are willing to give up on violence and destruction and be part of a constitutional order, joining the rebuilding process, knowing very well that some elements are beholden to a violent Jihadi notion that does not believe in a peaceful conclusion.

The international community, under a United Nations mandate, is committed to be in Afghanistan until certain objectives are met. All energies and resources should be focused on attaining those objectives as speedily as possible. Leaving Afghanistan prematurely would be tantamount to defeat and appeasement of brutality and extremism.

The end-game and success is not assured by military prowess alone. We fully understand that our aim is to enable the Afghans to progressively assume responsibility for governance, development and security. This requires enhancing the capacities for Afghan ownership and re-calibrating the international efforts by focusing on strategy, coordination and political will to see the mission through. It is also important to consider the safety and protection of civilians during combat operations.

The challenges are enormous:

It is no secret that Afghanistan produces and trades more than 90 percent of the world’s illicit opium. The size of the poppy-based economy is around 30 percent of licit GDP.

However, it is now abundantly clear that a large part of the drug economy thrives in insecure, Taliban and crime-infested areas, which lack a viable socio-economic foundation, infrastructure, jobs and markets for other crops and alternative livelihoods. Production is increasingly concentrated in the southern provinces where the security threat is most acute.

Serious efforts, supported by a better coordinated strategy and more resources, are underway to address this problem, especially by focusing on providing real alternative livelihoods for farmers. But it will take years to tackle this issue.

What is at stake and what should be of importance for countries like Canada?

An important message was echoed today in Tokyo at a high-level meeting of the 24 countries and organizations members of the Joint Coordination and Monitoring Board (JCMB) of the Afghanistan Compact. It was reiterated that the Afghanistan Compact continues to provide the comprehensive framework, integrating security, governance, rule of law and human rights, and social and economic development. 

Amongst the decisions taken, the participants agreed to:

•  Follow the priorities laid down in the Afghanistan Compact and its benchmarks; and Reaffirm the Afghan Government's responsibility for leading the implementation;

•  Intensify cross-border cooperation to enhance the regional consensus

• Renew efforts to meet the narcotics threat;

• Enhance the capacity of government to deliver public services, reduce corruption, and strengthen private investment to sustain economic growth and create employment;

• Encourage the international community to continue to devote the security and development resources needed to sustain the Afghan Government's efforts in those areas;

• Prepare an international conference to review progress on the implementation of the Afghanistan Compact, and the launch and implementation of the Afghanistan National Development Strategy (ANDS).  

We also welcome the call for improved coordination among donors to increase the effectiveness of aid in Afghanistan caused by “fragmented assistance, many from donors with their own distinct security, political and development interests," as the World Bank country director explained.

As the recent Oxfam report highlighted a few days ago, there is a need for aid coherence and efficiency because, rightly or wrongly, the perception is that much aid is wasted on “expensive consultants or on contractors."

Donors follow very different guidelines and methodologies to administer aid. Most of Canada’s aid uses trust funds overseen by multilateral agencies, and then disbursed to Afghan government ministries, or passes through multilateral agencies and NGOs. This is a way for Canada to keep track of the money using strict reporting protocols.

Human capacity or the lack thereof in Afghanistan, is a major challenge facing development. Another challenge for countries like Canada is to make development work sustainable in a conflict environment like Kandahar.

Afghans appreciate the creative thinking and hard work within CIDA to jump start projects that not only inject the government into the equation, but can also be more visible.

It is good news that over 19,000 community councils have sprung up throughout Afghanistan and more than 7,000 community-led projects have been completed. Now is the time to move to the next stage of community development, and put thousands to work in larger scale projects.

Another success has been microfinance, where more than 300,000 people have benefited and 98 per cent of loans have been repaid. But here again, time has come to move on to the next stage of creating viable businesses with a larger scope.

There is no silver bullet development paradigm for Afghanistan. The country needs both long impact as well as short impact projects. If you tell the people of Kandahar that funding national programmes is the only solution, and more important than building a hospital for them, or providing electricity or clean water for the city, you run the risk of losing their good will.

Meanwhile, the Afghan side will make every effort possible to fight corruption and mismanagement.

The recently published independent panel recommendations is a realistic and balanced assessment of the situation that will help inform the debate and decision by Canadians soon. Despite the violence and many other difficulties that the Afghan people and your brave soldiers and civilians are facing, the independent panel believes that it is worthwhile to continue the rebuilding process while being on guard and to continue to improve the security environment under specific conditions.

They are correct when they say that Afghanistan is a complex issue that requires a long-term engagement.

Merci.