Afghanistan, 2014

It gives me

great pleasure to express my sincere congratulations

to the President on his well-deserved election to the

presidency of the General Assembly at its sixty-

ninth session. We are confident that his wisdom and

experience will ensure constructive and fruitful

deliberations on the very important and vital issues

before the Assembly. I should like to assure him of the

full cooperation of my delegation to that end. I also

express my deep appreciation to his predecessor and

my gratitude to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon for his

competent and excellent leadership of the Organization.

I am delighted to report to the Assembly that

Afghanistan has achieved a significant milestone

with the successful conclusion of its presidential

elections, including the important task of recounting

the votes. The new President, Mr. Mohammad Ashraf

Ghani Ahmadzai, will be sworn in on 29 September.

Afghanistan is witnessing the transfer of power from one

elected administration to the next. While Afghanistan

faces marked challenges, we are confident that the new

Government, which enjoys the full backing of the vast

majority of Afghans, will strive to bring about political

security and socioeconomic prosperity to Afghanistan

and, by extension, to the region and beyond.

It was more than a decade ago that many countries

of the world joined the Afghan people in their struggle

for peace and fought against the forces of extremism

and terrorism. In that regard, we have collectively

achieved tangible results. Unfortunately, however,

the menace of terrorism and extremism continues to

threaten security, socioeconomic development and

peace, not only in Afghanistan but also in the region.

There is an urgent need for a comprehensive response

to the threats from terrorism, drugs and extremism at

the regional and international levels.

Today, Afghanistan has credible political

institutions, an elected Parliament, a Constitution

and elected provincial councils supported by the

brave Afghan National Security Forces. The people

of Afghanistan have witnessed many positive

achievements in the past decade, including in the fields

of socioeconomic development, education — especially

education for our girls — health, communications

and information technology, and the promotion and

protection of human rights, including particularly

the rights of women. Afghanistan has one of the

most dynamic media scenes in the region, propelled

by the freedom of expression that the Afghan people

have enjoyed for more than a decade. We should also

underscore the pioneering spirit of our youth, who are

behind much of the innovativeness and diversity of

thought in academia and in the private sector.

The Afghan people appreciate and thank the

international community for the vital support that it has

given the country to build security, peace and prosperity

in Afghanistan. We look forward to continued mutual

cooperation with the international community to

protect our achievements and ensure the sustainability

of a strong partnership.

The transfer of security responsibilities from the

international forces to the Afghan National Security

Forces for the whole of Afghanistan, launched in the

summer of 2011, will be achieved by the end of 2014.

As we speak, Afghan forces are providing security

independently across the country, despite increasing

acts of terrorism inside Afghanistan, which are being

committed with support from terrorists from beyond

our borders. The growing levels of violent extremism

and the alarming developments in the Middle East and

other parts of the world make international support

for the NATO mission in Afghanistan even more

imperative.

Parallel to our ongoing efforts to enhance the

capacity and capabilities of our National Security

Forces, the Afghan Government is also pursuing a

dialogue to achieve peace through political means and

reconciliation. We have put in place clear conditions

in order for that process to be accepted by the Afghan

people. For instance, we demand the renunciation of

violence and respect for Afghanistan’s Constitution, as

it guarantees full and equal rights to Afghan men and

women and is the only tool for the preservation of our

collective achievements of the past decade.

Afghanistan strongly believes in comprehensive,

long-term, friendly and good-neighbourly relations

between Pakistan and Afghanistan in the fight against

terrorism and the strengthening of peace and stability

between the two nations in the region. At the same time,

we would like to express our serious concern over the

rocket attacks by Pakistani forces onto Afghanistan’s

soil. The continuation of such attacks is unacceptable

to Afghanistan. We hope that the Government of

Pakistan, considering our common interests in ensuring

peace and stability, will put an end to any kind of acts

that could endanger the prospects for good-neighbourly

relations and will act to protect cooperation and trust

between our two nations.

The Afghan Government is keen to reduce the

negative economic impact of the security transition and

to move towards sustainable economic development in

at least three ways.

First, we will focus on the development of

agriculture and the agribusiness sector, where more

than 70 per cent of our population is directly or

indirectly engaged, with enormous potential for growth

and employment generation.

Secondly, Afghanistan is estimated to hold trillions

of dollars worth of natural resources, including minerals

and hydrocarbons, representing a guaranteed source of

wealth and income for generations to come. We already

have several State-owned and private companies from

China, India, the United Kingdom, Canada, Turkey, the

United Arab Emirates, Azerbaijan and other countries,

in addition to Afghan companies, expressing a keen

interest in investing billions of dollars.

Thirdly, Afghanistan is now on the eve of a

transformative decade, from 2015-2024, which will

be a multidimensional process that will have security,

political and economic ramifications. Therefore,

the pledges made at the 2012 Tokyo and Chicago

Conferences will maintain the Afghan Government’s

overall socioeconomic efforts. Afghanistan critically

needs the continuation of that support from its

international partners over the next few years.

Afghanistan’s report on its progress in achieving

the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), published

in late 2013, shows that the progress with regard to most

of the MDG targets, in particular those related to health

and universal primary education, is commendable.

Despite only starting in 2005, Afghanistan is committed

to achieving most of the MDGs by 2020. Meanwhile,

national consultations are under way to synchronize

efforts towards achieving the off-track MDG targets,

bearing in mind the outcome of the Open Working

Group on Sustainable Development Goals.

As we embark on the important task of crafting

the new post-2015 development agenda at this session,

I am happy to inform members that that process also

coincides with Afghanistan’s transformation decade.

Both are top priorities for Afghanistan’s national

development agenda. We appreciate the work of the

United Nations in recognizing the need to reduce

the number of sustainable development goals to an

affordable, achievable and realistic number in the post-

2015 development agenda. We are of the view that

that agenda should leave no one behind, it should be

adaptable to both global and local settings, and it should

have sustainable development and poverty eradication

at its centre.

Our region is blessed with vast resources and

opportunities for economic cooperation. An expanded

level of regional cooperation can serve both economic and

security purposes. The Afghan Government’s regional

strategic goal for economic cooperation is to establish

regional economic growth and resource corridors that

connect the Silk Road through Afghanistan, the people

of South and Central Asia and the Middle East and their

key economic activities, including agriculture, light

manufacturing and mineral extraction, with essential

trade, transit and energy enablers.

Regional cooperation is one of our priorities.

The Heart of Asia-Istanbul Process represents a

significant step towards enhancing stability and

regional cooperation between Afghanistan and the

12 participating countries, with the support of 12 other

country partners and nine international organizations.

This year’s General Assembly session takes place

at a time when the United Nations has seen a number

of conflicts continue and new ones have taken shape.

My Government fully supports the inalienable rights

of the Palestinian people and the establishment of

an independent Palestinian State with Jerusalem

as its capital. We strongly condemn illegal actions

and violations by the occupying Power against the

Palestinians as a whole, especially the ongoing

disproportionate and indiscriminate attacks on innocent

Palestinian civilians.

We express our grief at the killing of innocent

civilians in Syria and support a political resolution,

reached through a broad-based national dialogue that

meets the aspirations of all Syrians. With the worsening

security situation in Iraq and Libya, we strongly

condemn the actions of the Islamic State of Iraq and the

Sham and its brutality, and we call for joint efforts to

defeat that evil. In that context, I call upon the United

Nations to take appropriate action within its mandate to

uphold international peace and security.

My delegation believes that there is an urgent need

for the international community to pay attention to the

resolution of the crisis in Ukraine, while taking into

account the situation of civilians.

In conclusion, let me assure members that

Afghanistan remains committed to its national and

international responsibilities and obligations. We

reaffirm our strong will for a further strengthening of

democracy and good governance, including a further

strengthening of the rule of law; accountability and

transparency; the promotion and protection of human

rights, particularly the rights of women; justice reforms;

the fight against terrorism, narcotic drugs, corruption;

and the eradication of poverty. The support of the

international community is essential for all of that.