Agrégateur de flux

September 29, 2016 (JUBA) – Humanitarian response in war-hit South Sudan has been “severely” underfunded, despite the deepening crisis the country faces, aid agencies said.

Food is distributed at a refugee site in South Sudan's Upper Nile state (Photo: WFP/Ahnna Gudmunds)

The United Nations humanitarian body (OCHA), said only 54% ($691.8m) has so far been received out of $1.3 billion required under the 2016 South Sudan Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP) earmarked to respond to the most life-threatening needs of 5.1 million people across the country.

There are also reports of new clashes in multiple locations across the country, which humanitarian agencies say, have left even greater numbers of people uprooted from homes.

“Civilians continue to be killed and subjected to horrendous violations, including sexual violence,” OCHA said in its latest report, adding “Hunger and malnutrition have reached historic levels and taken hold in previously stable areas”.

Concerns have also been raised about the increasingly dangerous and difficult operating environment, with notable violence against aid workers, bureaucratic impediments, looting and interference in humanitarian work.

Despite the challenges, OCHA said, humanitarian partners delivered lifesaving assistance and protection to more than 3.2 million people across the country from January to July 2016, including in some of the most remote locations.

Meanwhile, Sudanese Red Crescent Society (SRCS) reports that South Sudanese refugees continue to arrive through Joda, El Mqeins and Kuek border points in White Nile State.

About 1,500 South Sudanese, SRCS said, arrived through the three border entry points between 1 and 15 September bringing the number of new arrivals through these three points to 16,209 individuals (5,828 households) so far this year.

The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) reported in its latest update that an increase in the arrival rate of South Sudanese refugees into White Nile State may be expected.

This trend has been observed in previous years and usually coincides with the end of the rainy season, UNHCR noted.

According to UNHCR, as of 15 September, White Nile hosted 102,961 South Sudanese refugees who have arrived since December 2013. This, it said, represents about 41% of all registered South Sudanese refugees in Sudan.

(ST)

Lancée par Alain Juppé, la vogue d'un mandat unique pour le président de la République est reprise par d'autres. Une fausse bonne idée ?

The US announces plans to build a military air base in Niger that will be capable of deploying drones, as part of anti-Islamist efforts.

September 29, 2016 (JUBA) – Government of South Sudan has said launching a rebellion to destroy the country and attain political promotion are factors driving the recent defection of senior South Sudan Democratic Movement/Cobra (SSDM/Cobra) of Pibor-based ethnic Murle force early this week.

The South Sudan government delegation and their SSDM/A Cobra faction counterparts after sigining a final peace deal in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on 9 May 2014 (ST)

Akol Paul Kordit, the Deputy Minister of Information, said the May 2014 Peace Agreement signed between the government and SSDM/Cobra has been fully respected.

“The President […] created Pibor as an administrative area as proposed by the Cobra faction, created seven counties and all the Cobra forces were integrated into the SPLA with [military ranks] promotion and inclusion in the rank and files of the SPLA,” said Khordit, speaking to reporters in Juba on Thursday.

He cited promotion of former Cobra leader, David Yauyau, to the rank of Lt. General as well as Lt. Gen. Khalid Boutrus Bora, Lt. Gen. Arestiden Kongkong and five other major generals as stipulated in the agreement.

But the defected SSDM/Cobra leaders dismissed government's narrative. Gen. Boutrus said in the statement announcing his defection on Tuesday that President Salva Kiir's government failed to honour the agreement by not appointing a presidential advisor and fund any developmental projects in Murle ethnic areas.

Khalid pledged to join “like-minded” armed opposition group to topple President Kiir's government. The deputy information minister disagreed.

“The President did all to implement the agreement in spirit and letter and also to bring stability and peace to former Jonglei State and Pibor in particular,” said Kordit, adding that the points raised by the dissident SSDM/Cobra leaders are excuses to launch a new rebellion with the hope of gaining political positions.

“The public must know that this is a clear indication that they (SSDM/Cobra) are looking for a pretext [to rebel],” he said.

He urged those who are dissatisfied with their current positions not to use violence as a means to get promotions to political or military leadership positions.

“If you want to be a governor, MP [Member of Parliament], an advisor and any position in the government, don't use violence to destroy the country, kill people. Let focus on the implementation of the peace agreement,” he said.

The SSDM/Cobra fought President Kiir's government between 2010 and 2014, demanded a separate state from Jonglei. Their leader, David Yauyau, became the leader of the Greater Pibor Administrative Area curved out from Jonglei state in 2014 and was nominated as Deputy Minister of Defence in April. Yauyau remains loyal to Kiir in Juba although his forces have defected with his former deputy.

The Murle ethnic based rebellion is the third force to declare war against President Kiir's regime within a week – after former First Vice President, Riek Machar, and former Agriculture Minister, Lam Akol, announced the new armed resistance.

They accused President Kiir and his close officials of violating the peace agreement and returned the country to war.

(ST)

September 29, 2016 (WAU) – A high profile United Nations delegation from New York has arrived in Wau, capital of the newly created Wau state of western Bahr el Ghazal. The visiting UN team is in collaboration with the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) and UN agencies supporting programmes on the ground.

A Mongolian troop with the UN's mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) smiles for the camera with a local boy in Bentiu, Unity State. 2 October 2012 (UNMISS Photo)

Headed by Michael Heller, the UN team which arrived on Thursday in Wau town said their mission was to assess the humanitarian situation in the area. Heller also said their visit aims at confirming the free access movements of all humanitarian agencies to most affected populated areas across the country.

In Wau town, the teams were received by the state governor Andrea Mayar Acho in his office.

“We are team here from New York as well as from UNMISS and the rest of humanitarian, UN agencies supporting programmes. We are here essentially to take a look at how the UN could support South Sudan in coming year or two,” said Heller.

“The Security Council has asked us to develop recommendations so that they can have understanding on how best to engage the UNMISS and how the agencies can best structure their supports to South Sudan for the coming term. The UNMISS mandates will come to an end in December 2016 and so the security council is looking to us to give them some guidance essentially with respect to how UNMISS can best engage over the next mandate period,” he said.

He said since they arrived in the country, they have been meeting with representatives of the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) including many sections of South Sudanese in order to get better understanding of the situation.

“Our partnership with the government is vital, it is the most important partnership that we have here. We are working hand in hand with the government to bring security and support the peace process. This is the most important part of our work,” he added.

Heller said UNMISS also wanted to hear from the people what they could do more in partnership with the government to help to support the political process and consolidate peace in the country as well as help on how to create environment in which the internally displaced persons should return to their homes in safety and dignity.

Meanwhile the state governor, Andrea Mayar Acho, ensured the delegation of good improvement of the security situation in the town.

Acho also mentioned that the UN activities in his state were very useful and called for UN supporting partners to support the United Nations Mission in Wau town to accelerate their efforts in supporting the needy people within and outside the state capital.

“The state government is in full cooperation with the UN agencies in Wau and that we [are] asking these agencies to support the government to encourage these displaced persons to return to their homes since the security situation in Wau is currently stable,” he said.

“We are not only asking the support to those at the UN camps, churches or those at the ICRC compound but also we need these civilians at the rebel controlled areas in the three counties to be provided with necessary assistance,” he said.

Acho said providing assistance to those outside the town would also encourage those still living at the protection sites to return to their homes, arguing they will know that everybody is being protected.

(ST)

September 29, 2016 (JUBA) – A one-week campaign in the South Sudanese capital dubbed “Clean Up Juba” attracted more than 500 residents.

Volunteers at work after the launch of the Clean-Up campaign in Juba, September 22, 2016 (Albert Gonzalez Farran/Oxfam)

The campaign, which was jointly conducted by Oxfam, the UN Children Fund (UNICEF) and Juba City Council aimed at raising awareness on responsible waste management needs.

Speaking at the campaign launch, the mayor of Juba city, Stephen Wani Michael challenged citizens to always ask themselves what part they played to stop cholera.

“My policy is to see that basic services are delivered to the people. Fighting against cholera is a collective effort, and it starts by keeping our environment and water clean,” he said.

The campaign is reportedly part of Oxfam's cholera response and cements its commitment to the people of Juba to improving environmental management in the city.

“Juba is our city and we all need to work together to maintain it for the health and well-being of each other,” said Kenyi Alison, Oxfam's Public Health Team Leader.

“This clean-up is the first step towards creating a clean and healthy environment where we can all live,” she added.

Oxfam has reportedly been providing ongoing support to Juba City Council in addressing waste management issues, by providing rubbish collection trucks, information, interactive public campaigns as well as household visits.

(ST)

September 29, 2016 (JUBA) - South Sudanese government under the leadership of President Salva Kiir has slammed the former First Vice President, Riek Machar, for declaring resumption of armed struggle against the “regime” as an alternative action to bring true peace to the country.

President Kiir speaking through his spokesman, Ateny Wek Ateny, in a response statement on Thursday rejected the new position of the leader of the armed opposition faction of the SPLM-IO, saying there is no place in South Sudanese politics for those who wish to take part through the barrel of the gun.

“Riek Machar will never be a peacemaker. Indeed, he has a long history of turning to war to force his demands on the peoples of South Sudan,” said the presidential spokesman, Ateny Wek Ateny,

Meanwhile Machar's replacement, Taban Deng Gai, described the decision of his predecessor and the man on whose behalf he negotiated the August 2015 peace agreement to end the two years of violent conflict with the government as unacceptable. He asked the Sudanese government to “shut him up” and stop him from inciting violence.

Gai viewed himself as “a peace lover and described Machar as “a violent man.”

“Anybody who is a peace lover has a great future ahead of him, but Riek Machar has been a violent man from 1991, 1998, 2013, and 2016. I think he should have a new approach now. If he denounces violence and becomes a peaceful person like me, like Salva Kiir, there is a role for him," said Gai at a roundtable discussion hosted by the Council's Africa Center in the United States.

He said the call to arms was “unacceptable” and urged Machar to remain in exile until when he can return as a peace lover to participate in elections, rather than pushing for violence as a way to bring peace.

Gai's controversial ascendance to power in July is viewed by Machar's supporters as a conspiracy between him and President Kiir to “cooperatively” dismantle the August 2015 peace deal which the president signed with a long list of reservations and warned of difficulty to implement it.

The opposition leader was pushed out from Juba in July during the renewed violence between his bodyguards and forces loyal to President Kiir.

He called for deployment of a third party force to Juba to provide protection or else wage an armed resistance to change the situation.

(ST)

Un mois après la déclaration d'Arnaud Montebourg à l'élection présidentielle, son entourage commence déjà à quitter le navire, raconte RTL.

September 29, 2016 (KHARTOUM) - South Sudan made a formal protest to Khartoum for hosting the former First Vice President Riek Machar, a diplomat said on Thursday.

South Sudan's rebel leader Riek Machar addresses a press conference in his private residence in Addis Ababa, Saturday, Feb. 13, 2016. (Photo AP/Mulugete Ayehe)

South Sudanese Deputy Head of Mission to Khartoum Kau Nak Maper told Sudan Tribune on Thursday that the Embassy handed a protest letter to the foreign minister over the conditions of Machar's hosting in Khartoum.

"The protest came on the background of the political activity carried out by Machar, and through which he declared the armed resistance against the government of Juba," Maper said.

Following a three-day meeting in Khartoum the SPLM-IO Political Bureau under the leadership of Riek Machar announced they opted for the armed struggle in order to establish a democratic regime in Juba.

Juba had been reassured by the Sudanese authorities that Machar is in Khartoum for humanitarian reasons, indicating he receive medical care.

The South Sudanese diplomat said the Embassy has not yet received a response from the Sudanese government to the protest note. However he pointed out that the lack of response would not lead to escalation or a crisis in the bilateral relations.

"The issue will be discussed during the meetings of the joint security committee between the two countries, which will is taking place in Juba nowadays," he revealed.

Last Monday, South Sudan's Ambassador to Khartoum Mayan Dut Waal, said he was surprised to see the Sudanese government allowing Machar to declare war against his government. And called to ban his political activities against Juba.

On the same Monday, Foreign Minister Ibrahim Ghanodur stressed that Sudan wouldn't serve as a launching pad for any armed opposition activities against South Sudan.

24 hours later he told Al-Jazeera TV that the rebel leader would leave Sudan in the near future without further details.

"The hosting of former South Sudanese First Vice President Riek Machar in Sudan is temporary, as he is now admitted to a Khartoum hospital and will leave the country soon," he said.

(ST)

September 29, 2016 (JUBA) - General Dau Aturjong, a high ranking military officer who abandoned government at the height of the civil war in 2014 and joined rebellion, has returned to the South Sudanese army (SPLA).

General Dau Aturjong (ST)

Aturjong defected to the armed opposition movement led by South Sudan's former vice-president, Riek Machar, but has now rejoined the army and also instructed his forces Aweil to follow him without conditions.

What prompted the ex-rebel commander to switch sides remain unclear, with his supporters claiming he responded to call from the community to forget the past and open a new political page.

Other, however, claimed Aturjong failed to secure a high ranking position within the armed opposition leadership, during the selection and recommendation for officials to occupy high level positions, including in cabinet, upon returning to the capital, Juba.

In an attempt to assure the public of his reconciliation with the army chief of staff, General Malong Awan, the duo travelled to Aweil, the former administrative headquarters of Northern Bahr el Ghazal state and held a community meeting to announce the abrupt decision.

While addressing the community, Aturjong said he abandoned the armed opposition for government and returned to the community in order to work for peace and reconciliation among the population.

“There have been who have been asking me what I was doing with Riek Machar and what did I get from him. I tell them I was not going for a position. There was a reason for which I went and I have now returned because I have accepted the call of the community and today mark my return. It is a happy day. It is an historic day for the people of Aweil and our message is that we want to work together, we want unity,” said Aturjong.

He likened his decision to switch allegiance from the armed opposition to the government side to cleanliness of a person who cleans his own house thereby attracting other people to follow suit.

Meanwhile, Awan said the former rebel commander was a “liberator” known by everyone in the area, but decided to join rebellion due to “grievances” and other “political disappointments”.

“It is indeed a very important day for the people of Aweil as General Dau has said it correctly, because in reality General Dau is one of the people who were in the struggle. Everybody knows him. He was just absent because of a certain disappointment which we don't want to go back to it. And he has come back without any condition,” Awan told the community.

He said Aturjong was in the community to assure the people that he was ready to work with government in the struggle to restore peace.

“So that is why we have just taken this day to be for him in Aweil to talk to his people and to be seen by his people that he is just among us and he is highly welcome,” stressed Awan, who later held Aturjong's hand as they waved to the public to signify reconciliation.

(ST)

The Afghan Government and the EU will co-host the Brussels conference on 5 October 2016. A couple of side events will take place on 4 October, and a high-level dialogue on migration is scheduled for 3 October. Around 70 countries and 30 international organisations will come together in the Belgian capital to review the achievements and vision of the Afghan government and renew their commitments to Afghanistan. This is the eleventh international donor conference on Afghanistan, since 2001. Ahead of the gathering, AAN answers some key questions about the conference and Afghanistan’s foreign aid dependence.

1. What is the Brussels conference about?

The Brussels conference is an international donor conference where the Afghan government is expected to share its vision and track record on reform, and where the international community is expected to signal sustained political and financial support to peace, state-building and development in Afghanistan (for more details see the Afghan Government’s official website on the Brussels conference and the EU announcement).

The President of Afghanistan, Ashraf Ghani, and the President of the European Council, Donald Tusk, will open the conference, and the Chief Executive of Afghanistan Dr Abdullah Abdullah will conclude it. The event will be co-chaired by Federica Mogherini, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs, Neven Mimica, European Commissioner for International Cooperation and Development, Salahuddin Rabbani, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Afghanistan and Eklil Hakimi, Minister of Finance of Afghanistan.

At the conference, the Afghan government will present reports assessing its performance to date, as well as documents outlining its plans. The assessments will include a list highlighting the National Unity Government’s achievements and a report on the so-called SMAF benchmarks (relating to the Self-Reliance through Mutual Accountability Framework agreed in 2014. (For more details see the answer under question three).

The government’s plans include its new five-year strategy, titled the Afghanistan National Peace and Development Framework (ANPDF) that replaces the Afghanistan National Development Strategy (ANDS) that expired in 2013. It will also present its fiscal strategy and its vision for budget reform and its development priorities, including on poverty reduction and social inclusion.

There will also be five new National Priority Programmes (NPP): the Citizens Charter Programme, which will replace the National Solidarity Programme; the National Women’s Economic Empowerment Programme; the National Urban Development Programme; the National Infrastructure Plan; and the National Comprehensive Agriculture Development (the documents will be uploaded here). For the next four years the government envisages eleven National Priority Programmes (NPPs): five new ones and six that will be ongoing. This is a major decrease from the original 22 NPPs (more about this under the question three). The government describes the eleven NPPs as “outcome focused thematic programmes” that will guide the government’s resource allocation and will guide ministries towards “collective problem solving.”

The Afghan government is also expected to propose a downsized set of 22 benchmarks, or what it calls “refreshed commitments.” In 2014, the Afghanistan government and the international community agreed to thirty-nine commitments under the SMAF (for details see here). After the government presents its progress against these 39 commitments at the conference, some of which have been achieved, it will suggest a new set of 22 commitments for the forthcoming period.

International financial commitments made at the Tokyo conference in 2012 were projected until 2016, and so the Afghan government will be seeking new funding pledges. It is expected that at the Brussels Conference, the Afghan government will secure commitments until 2020. The Afghan government is seeking the same level of annual assistance as in Tokyo (around 3.9 billion US dollars per year) for the next four years.

2. What are the donors’ expectations of the Brussels conference?

As co-host, the EU is probably the donor with the highest expectations. Ambassador Franz-Michael Skjold Mellbin, the EU Special Representative to Afghanistan, told AAN:

We hope that the Brussels conference on Afghanistan will signal two key changes in the international approach. The first pivot is to change the narrative from winning the war to winning the peace. The second pivot is to have regional actors take more responsibility for Afghanistan’s peace and stability.

Ambassador Melbin explained that the there would also be a shift in the international approach towards Afghanistan: “In 2014, we had the triple transition which could not bring a fragile Afghanistan towards peace and stability. We are now finalising a triple decision package: a conditions-based force level presence, the Warsaw summit and the Brussels conference to finance security and development until 2020.” He added that: “More of the same will not create new results. We must avoid repeating the mistakes of the past. The triple decision package gives Afghanistan four more years to stabilise, while Brussels will help align our collective political, security, economic, development and regional efforts towards building the conditions for a lasting peace in Afghanistan.”

Next to these major expectations stands the fact that very few European donors have declared their contributions yet. For many donor countries, the key issues remain: the elections, the peace process, regional cooperation, mutual accountability and aid effectiveness. And on these issues, the Afghan government has only very modest achievements to report. Another major concern for many donors is related to aid effectiveness and the continued Afghan demands for increased on-budget support, given the persistent budget under-spending by the government and rampant corruption in the country. Some countries are pushing for greater conditionality on their aid disbursement and are requesting more result-oriented language in the conference communiqué. These misgivings, alongside the desire to have a successful yet substantive conference, mean that many commas and brackets in the joint communiqué are still being discussed.

The peace deal with Gulbuddin Hekmatyar’s Hezb-e-Islami (see AAN analysis here) and the limited progress on electoral reform (the electoral decree has apparently been passed, although not yet gazetted, and the selection committee for the Electoral Commission appointed) will presumably be presented by both sides as proof of progress. There is a general assumption that international support will remain at the current or near current level (3.9 billion US dollars a year).

3. What were the previous international conferences on Afghanistan about?

The Brussels conference is the eleventh high-level, international conference co-hosted by the Afghan government and international actors since the 2001 US-led intervention in Afghanistan.

The first international conference on Afghanistan was organised in Bonn in December 2001. Here, Afghan and international representatives agreed on the provisions of the interim authority, which was tasked to organise an Emergency Loya Jirga (see this dispatch by AAN’s co-director Thomas Rutting, who helped organized the jirga) and a Constitutional Loya Jirga within 18 months after that (see Ruttig’s account of this event here).

In January 2002, the Tokyo conference on Afghanistan saw the international community pledge over 1.8 billion US dollars to rebuild Afghanistan in 2002, and over 3 billion US dollars for the years after (see AAN’s Kate Clark reporting here).

Then following what some called the end of the Bonn process, the Berlin conference on Afghanistan was held in April 2004. At this conference the participants welcomed the newly adopted Afghan constitution, noting the “substantial progress” achieved since the Bonn Agreement of 2001. Multiyear commitments were made for the ‘reconstruction and development’ of Afghanistan totalling 8.2 billion US dollars for the fiscal years 1383 – 1385 (March 2004 – March 2007), including a pledge of 4.4 billon US dollars for 1383 (March 2004 – March 2005).

In January 2006, at the London conference, a first set of benchmarks were adopted based on what was called the Afghanistan Compact. This overarching conference document identified three areas of activities: Security; Governance, Rule of Law and Human Rights; and Economic and Social Development. Under each of these thematic areas, a number of benchmarks and target timelines were defined. Additionally, key principles of aid effectiveness between the international community and Afghan government were agreed, including to, among other things, to, “increase the proportion of donor assistance channelled directly through the core budget, as agreed bilaterally between the Government and each donor” (see annex two of the Afghanistan Compact available here). In April 2006, the Joint Coordination and Monitoring Board (JCMB), involving the government of Afghanistan and its international supporters, was established and tasked with the strategic coordination and monitoring of the implementation of the Afghanistan Compact and the interim Afghanistan National Development Strategy (I-ANDS).

In June 2008, at the Paris conference, co-hosted by the French Government, the Afghan Government and UN, the international community pledged an additional 21 billion US dollars to Afghanistan. The conference reaffirmed the Afghanistan Compact as the agreed basis for cooperation, as well as a new commitment to support the Afghanistan National Development Strategy (ANDS) for 2008-2013. However, some participants at the Paris conference voiced their concerns saying that “international donors had to radically change their mind-sets about how to promote development and security in Afghanistan.”

In 2009, after the Den Haag international conference, co-hosted, as in Paris, by tripartite chairs, the communiqué emphasised that “effective, well-funded civilian programmes are as necessary as additional military forces and training programmes.” The participants agreed to significantly expand the resources and personnel devoted to civilian capacity-building programmes, and pledged to improve aid effectiveness, in line with the June 2008 Paris Declaration.

In 2010 there were two major international conferences, in addition to the Lisbon NATO summit where the plan for a phased handover of security responsibility from ISAF to the Afghan security forces (inteqal) was announced.

At the 2010 London conference on Afghanistan, it was agreed that Kabul would gradually take over responsibilities for running the war and running the country, over the next five years (see also previous AAN reporting).

In July 2010, as agreed in London, the Kabul conference was held at which mutual progress on commitments was reviewed. Under the motto ‘Afghan owned and Afghan led’, President Karzai launched 22 National Priority Programmes grouped in six clusters and asked for 15 billion US dollars in pledges (see also AAN previous reporting here; here; and here).

While new programmes and agreements have been negotiated ahead of every new conference, progress has remained elusive, as noted by AAN’s Thomas Rutting in 2010:

A glance at the recent international conferences exhibits vague and unknown progress, even by the rough statistics. For example, in 2006 the government of Afghanistan introduced the Afghanistan Compact at an international conference in London. The Afghanistan Compact was a comprehensive plan to address some of the basic and fundamental social development and governance priorities of the Afghan government and its people. However, right after two years of the Afghanistan Compact, another plan was introduced at the Paris Conference and that was the Afghanistan National Development Strategy. Again two years down the line, Afghanistan sees almost no significant signs of the implementation of the ANDS on the ground. It is worth mentioning, that the Comprehensive Strategy concluded at the Hague Conference last year too has remained unachieved so far.

In Lisbon, on 20 November 2010, the nations that contributed troops to ISAF issued a declaration (Lisbon Declaration on Afghanistan) announcing what they called ‘Afghanistan’s Transition’ – the gradual withdrawal of foreign forces and their replacement by Afghan ones. This transition to full Afghan security responsibility and leadership was to begin in early 2011 “following a joint Afghan and NATO/ISAF assessment and decision” and aimed to have the ANSF “lead and conduct security operations in all provinces by the end of 2014” (see also comments by AAN’s Thomas Ruttig ahead of the Lisbon summit here, a discussion of the phased handover here for an overview on NATO summits on Afghanistan see AAN reporting here).

In July 2012, Afghanistan’s donors pledged 16 billion US dollars for the country’s economic and development needs at another international conference in Tokyo (see a UNAMA report here http://unama.unmissions.org/donors-conference-tokyo-pledges-us-16-billion-afghanistans-development and a slightly more critical reporting by AAN here). The Tokyo pledges were made in response to the Afghan government’s strategy document titled Towards Self-Reliance; a strategy for “sustainable growth and development” through the National Priority Programs (NPPs) seeking to focus on economic growth, revenue generation, job creation, and human development. The conference further agreed on a new set of benchmarks in the Tokyo Mutual Accountability Framework (TMAF).

Although, according to Afghan Ministry of Finance figures, 57 billion US dollars had already been disbursed in development aid between 2002 and 2010, with very varying results, the pledges and money continued to come to a country with very weak rule of law, virtually no mechanisms to control corruption and growing insecurity in large parts of the country. (For more details, see also AAN’s e-book Snapshot of an Intervention. The Unlearned Lessons of Afghanistan’s Decade of Assistance 2001–2011 and a recent SIGAR report Corruption in Conflict: Lessons from the U.S. Experience in Afghanistan)

In December 2014, the tenth international conference on Afghanistan was held, again in London. This time the then new Afghan president, Ashraf Ghani, presented a new reform programme entitled “Realizing Self-Reliance: Commitments to Reforms and Renewed Partnership.” The conference was not an explicit pledging event. Moreover, the National Unity Government had not been able to do much by that point, as it had been unable to agree on its cabinet. The conference communiqué thus simply stated that “the International Community reiterated its commitment, as set out in the Tokyo Declaration, to direct significant and continuing but declining financial support towards Afghanistan’s social and economic development priorities through the Transformation Decade.” (See AAN reporting on London conference here). Ghani’s government at the Senior Officials Meeting held in September 2015 introduced a new document, the Self-Reliance through Mutual Accountability Framework (SMAF), which consolidated both its new reform agenda and the previous TMAF benchmarks, laying out a set of a 39 benchmarks.

4. What else is happening in the margins of the Brussels conference?

On 4 October 2016, there will be two official side events. The first, a high level event entitled “Empowered women, prosperous Afghanistan,” will include two panels. The first panel, “Promoting Afghan Women’s Rights,” will focus on the political and human rights dimensions of Afghan women’s empowerment, in particular the efforts to support women’s participation in political decision-making, including peace talks, the security and justice sectors, and the Government’s commitment to implement the National Action Plan on UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security (NAP 1325). Ongoing efforts to protect and enforce women’s rights will also be discussed, including progress on the implementation of the Elimination of Violence against Women (EVAW) law (new AAN analysis is forthcoming, past dispatches on this controversial law can be found here, here and here). The second panel, “Socio-economic Empowerment of Afghan Women,” will discuss the importance of women’s participation in the economy. At this panel, the Afghan government will launch its National Action plan for Women’s Economic Empowerment (NAPWEE), which focuses on providing economic opportunities for poor rural women. The event will feature a high-level opening session, including speeches from President Ashraf Ghani and Irina Bokova, Director general of UNESCO.

A second high-level event on 4 October will be on “Regional Integration and Prosperity.” This event, which is on invitation-only, is expected to set next steps for regional economic cooperation projects that can attract the resources of Afghanistan, regional partners and the wider international community, and to get regional countries more engaged in Afghanistan.

An EU-Afghanistan dialogue on migration will take place on 3 October 2016 – over a quarter of a million Afghans migrated to Europe in 2015 and 2016 (see AAN reporting on Afghan migration here, here, and here). At this high-level event, it is expected that Afghan government and the EU will agree on the Joint Way Forward agreement on migration. However, the outcome document is still being discussed with the main sticking points at the time publication, not yet agreed. If the document is not signed before Brussels, this may well result in additional pressure on Afghanistan and rather strong language at the conference from some of the donor countries, who may well abstain from further development aid pledges, until the readmission agreement is signed.

In-addition to the official events, there will be several side events hosted and organised by various civil society organisations. For example, Transparency International will launch a ‘TI Scorecard Report’ on the performance of the Afghan government on its anti-corruption commitments over the last two years, to help, it says, set priorities for the next three years. 

5. How has the Brussels conference been reported on in the Afghan media?

In the Afghan media, much of the reporting on the Brussels conference has focused on the National Unity Government’ achievements (or lack of achievements) and the strategies it plans to present at the conference. There has also been criticism on the government’s failure to curb corruption, improve security, and create jobs.

Much of the recent reporting in the Afghan media was informed by the Minister of Finance’s briefing to the Wolesi Jirga on 19 September. It focused on the government’s new Afghanistan National Development and Peace Framework that would be presented in Brussels, as well as the five new national programmes (see for instance here).

A day before, Tolo News quoted the spokesperson of the Ministry of Finance, Ajmal Abdul Rahimzai, as saying that the “Afghan government is trying to become self-reliant and to end reliance on international aid through increasing its revenue.” Tolo News also quoted some MPs who had argued that Afghanistan would not become self-reliant, nor would it receive international aid in the future, if it failed to present proper plans at the Brussels Summit.

There were expressions of doubt over the sincerity of the National Unity Government, describing the presented achievements and plans as only window dressing, aimed at attracting international aid.

On 22 September 2016, Tolo News, for instance, quoted Sayed Ishaq Gillani, head of Hizb-e-Nuhzat Hambastagi Milli party, “Fighting is going on in many parts of the country, corruption has not been eradicated and they [the government] do not have anything to present to the Brussels Summit. They have to respond to the people’s questions, [but] how they want to convince the people is not known.” Ahmad Wali Massud, head of the Massud Foundation, was quoted as saying, “For two years they have not done anything and the country is going into crisis. Because of the Brussels Summit they say that we will do this and that. But I am sure they will not do anything as they have not done [anything so far].”

On 25 September 2016, Mandegar Daily wrote:

Nowadays, the presidential palace is taking measures and showing that it is striving for betterment of the situation; inter alia, there is attention to implement the political agreement, the electoral law is being discussed, the peace agreement is signed with Hekmatyar and then campaigns are carried about all of these. Also, there are talks of increase in revenue and that the government has prepared five documents to present to the Brussels conference, as well as there are talks of programmes and plans at the national level, but at the end nothing will be done in practice.

Mandegar Daily went further, saying that “preparation of a long list of achievements that is going to be presented at the international conference at the time while such achievements have not been made in the country at all, [is aimed] to maintain his [President Ghani’s] hold of power and to deceive the public opinions at the national and international level.”

Ahead of the Brussels conference, the media listed unfulfilled promises made by the president and his government. For example, on 21 September 2016 Hasht-e Subh daily wrote that while the president is meeting the Western standards when it comes to strategies and programmes, “the reality is that the dossier of Mr Ghani’s unfulfilled promises is thick.” And on 6 August 2016, Hasht-e Subh wrote, “The government has to start the electoral reform as soon as possible, and to form a commission to draft amendments to the constitution and to publish the parliamentary and district council election calendar. When these actions are taken, the government’s stand in the Brussels conference will be strengthened.”

Comments on the Brussels conference by politicians and MPs indicate that they mainly see the conference as a token of continued engagement that could bring good governance about and a source of continued financial aid to Afghanistan. As for the nature of the aid, some members of parliament believe international donors is now going to commit money to major infrastructure projects. “The international community will provide infrastructure aid to Afghanistan,” said Abdul Qadir Zazai, an MP from Kabul, on 18 September 2016, on Tolo News, “if the Afghan government succeeds to convince the international community at the Brussels Summit.” Nisar Haris, a member of the Meshrano Jirga (upper house), said, “We have not received [such] aid to build our infrastructure over the past 15 years.”

For more background see AAN’s thematic dossier bringing together some of AAN’s recent reporting on the main conference topics.

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