The UN’s efforts and plans towards rebuilding Afghan infrastructure

Background
In 328 B.C.E Alexander the Great entered what we know as Afghanistan and created a
Hellenistic state. In 642 C.E, Arabs entered the region introducing the area to
Islam. In 1919 through the Treaty of Rawalpindi, Great Britain relinquished its
control over Afghanistan. The new King Amanullah intended to increase diplomatic
relations with the rest of the world and modernize Afghanistan. He built schools
and abolished the law that forced women to wear a head veil. After several other
incompetent leaders, the People’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan overthrew the
government in a coup. Nur Muhammad Taraki, Secretary General of the PDPA, became
President of the Revolutionary Council and Prime Minister of the new Democratic
Republic of Afghanistan. Taraki engaged in severe Marxist reform. A revolt ensued
and Hafizullah Amin, who had earlier been and Minister of Defense, seized power
from Taraki. The Soviet Union took advantage of this coup. In 1978 Moscow signed a
treaty that offered military assistance to Afghanistan. Afghanistan became
dependent on the Soviet military for assistance. However, Amin refused to take
advice from the Soviets on how to establish government and Karmal became Prime
Minister. After Amin, Karmal was not able to establish a strong central
government due to rebellion from the mujahedeen. Najibullah, who replaced Karmal,
was highly ineffective and dependent on Soviet support. By the mid-1980s, the
Afghan resistance movement, which was aided by the United States, Saudi Arabia,
and Pakistan, was extracting a lot of effort and resources from the Soviets, both
within Afghanistan and by weakening the U.S.S.R.'s relations with much of the
Islamic and Western world. Negotiations for a Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan
had been underway since 1982. In 1988 the Geneva accords were signed, which
incorporated a timetable that guaranteed full Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan
by February 15, 1989. The mujahedeen refused to accept these accords so civil war
continued after Soviet withdrawal. Seeking to resolve differences, the mujahedeen
established an interim Islamic Jihad Council in mid-April 1992 to assume power in
Kabul.
The Taliban rose to power in the 1990s and occupied Kabul in 1996. The Taliban
provided a sanctuary for Osama Bin Laden. The United States expelled the Taliban
regime and Osama Bin Laden form Kabul in November, 2001. Afghanistan is currently
led by a democratically elected leader: Harmid Karzai. In 2001, with the overthrow
of the Taliban, Afghan women were able to enjoy some of their previous freedoms.
They have been able to reenter schools and universities. Girls composed a third of
the nearly six million children who returned to school in 2008. However
Afghanistan is currently faced with a fair amount of problems. Only 15 percent of
births in Afghanistan are attended by qualified health professionals. Afghanistan
has the second highest maternal mortality rate in the world (one pregnant woman
dies for every 6 live births) (State Department). A lack of sanitation and potable
water has led to outbreaks of tuberculosis and other diseases (State Department).
Afghanistan is now a country with more than half of its people living in absolute
poverty (State Department). The United Nations found it necessary for an
international effort to become involved in Afghanistan to help with re-building
infrastructure which will help reduce the threat of the Taliban. On December 15th,
2001 the United Nations expressed they were “determined to end the tragic conflict
in Afghanistan and promote national reconciliation, lasting peace, stability and
human rights for the country”. Some of the elements the United Nations is
focusing on are: agricultural development, building and securing schools,
improving security and improving health.
Probably the most important goal the United Nations has in Afghanistan is
developing varied agriculture which will provide an alternative to growing and
selling opium. Imagine you are in this situation: you are poverty-stricken, you
have a family to feed, and you have the option of growing opium and making 15
dollars a day or choosing any other profession and making an average of seven
dollars a day (Williams). It seems logical to grow opium because your income will
more than double. However, when you are choosing opium, you are choosing to
support the Taliban. Afghanistan continues to be the largest producer and exporter
of opium. Over 20% of the Taliban’s income comes from Afghan opium sales; the
Taliban comprises a total of sixty states (FACTBOX). That is why on December
15th, 2001 the UN Security Council said they “strongly urge the United Nations,
the international community and regional organizations cooperate with the Interim
Authority to combat international terrorism, cultivation and trafficking of
illicit drugs and provide Afghan farmers with financial, material and technical
resources for alternative crop production”. In fact as of 2009, the Food and
Agricultural Organization of the United Nation’s vision for Afghanistan is to
expand irrigation throughout the country; enhance the use of certified seeds in
order to achieve household food security and make Afghanistan food self-
sufficient (Rebuilding Afghanistan’s Agricultural Sector). Roma Bhattacharjea who
is a gender specialist for the United Nations Development Program says that the
mission in Afghanistan is focused on two requirements: one is preparation for
quick impact interventions and institutional development framework for the natural
resource and agriculture sector to set the stage for sustainable development. The
agricultural sector includes all aspects of natural resource management,
utilization and protection. The United Nations recognizes the dry climate and how
that affects agriculture and population pressures. They recognize lack of
sufficient water as a primary agricultural concern. However, according to the
Asian Development Bank (Rebuilding… p.7) “although population pressures are
increasing, Afghanistan has the capacity to mobilize over7.5 million hectares
(Mha) of cultivated land, of which 60% would be irrigated and 20% would be double-
cropped. This degree of land and water use amounts to about 0.35 ha per capita, a
relatively generous ratio in a regional context. In addition, the country has
about 29 Mha of rangeland for use by livestock. If productivity can be restored to
levels similar to those of the rest of the region, then Afghanistan should be able
to resolve medium- to longer term food security concerns”. As you can see, the
agricultural problems in Afghanistan are not a lost cause, they just need to be
re-developed and refocused. The tactics the United Nations are focusing on are:
technical skills improvement, training in small business in marketing skills,
provisions of microfinance and credit and the required training to manage money,
introduction of mechanized practices and processes, promotion of product exports
such as dried fruits, raisins and nuts, a feasibility assessment of operating an
apex marketing outlet in Kabul, and linkage with international fair trade
partnerships (Rebuilding… p. 8).
These efforts will be targeted to men and women alike to ensure that the entire
population can benefit from them. These strategies are endorsed by the Afghan
government and the United Nations Drug Control Program. The United Nations also
realizes that infrastructure related to agriculture (things like irrigation
systems, roads, bridges, etc.) are suffering. For example, in the case of
pomegranates less than five percent reach export markets abroad (Rebuilding…
p.11). The most recently published effort was in 2009:
Afghanistan Humanitarian Action Plan 2009
Project Title Emergency support to vulnerable food-insecure farming families
through provision of animal feed for the 2009 feeding seasons
Project Code AFG-09/A/23746/R
Sector/Cluster Food Security and Agriculture
Objectives To improve the food security of vulnerable livestock holders in drought
-affected areas of Afghanistan through the provision of concentrated animal feed
Beneficiaries Total: 70000 10,000 farming families
Implementing Partners Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation (MAIL);
international and national non-governmental organizations
Project Duration Jan 2009 - Dec 2009
Current Funds Requested $2,233,000.00
Location Not Specified
Priority A. Immediate
This humanitarian action plan is designated for the survival of Afghans, but the
efforts stated earlier are more for the economic redevelopment of Afghanistan. As
far as the results of these actions, Mr. Tekie of the FAO said at this stage, the
estimated yield of wheat will be 40 to 50 per cent more than the last year.
The United Nations along with other nations have donated about 20 million
dollars to support pomegranate production. Afghanistan is acclaimed to have the
best pomegranates in the world. This strange fruit is gaining increasing
popularity in the United States and Europe (Afghanistan’s great purple…).
According to the Afghan Embassy website- On average, farmers make about $2,000 per
acre with pomegranates, versus $1,320 per acre growing poppies. As stated earlier,
the majority of the country is living in extreme poverty and resorts to opium, but
with increased pomegranate production, people will choose to farm a more
profitable crop. Wheat, Mint, saffron and cotton are also lucrative new crops in
Afghanistan. If Afghans start farming pomegranates and dried fruits, the
production of opium will decrease. The decrease in production of opium will lower
the income of the Taliban; because Afghanistan is a war zone, alternative crop
production is not that feasible. Last year’s pomegranate crop had to be flown out
by United States helicopters (Afghanistan’s great…). Kandahar is where the best
pomegranates are said to grow, but that is in the heart of opium country. Part of
the United Nations’ efforts is security of rebuilding infrastructure. The United
Nations Talks on Afghanistan discuss that the UN security forces are responsible
for securing Kabul and its surrounding areas. A 2008 Economist stated that poppy
production decreased by 19% last year. Many of the terrorist groups in Afghanistan
are nomadic and do not have live in one central location. As history proves, the
development of agriculture comes before the development of society, so in my
opinion the development of agriculture is crucial to the establishment of a stable
democracy.
There have been success stories regarding agricultural development and
reduction of the opium trade. 18/34 provinces in Afghanistan are poppy free. The
United Nations assumes the drugs industry has shrunk from $4 billion to $3.4
billion- equivalent to around 30% of the licit economy (Afghanistan Human…).
Even though Afghanistan was involved in war and could not participate in the
United Nations Millennium Development Goals, in 2004 the Afghan government was
able to endorse these goals. Afghanistan defined security as their most prevalent
problem and most important goal. Afghanistan had a total of nine goals: 1.
Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger, 2. Achieve universal primary education, 3.
Promote gender equality and empower women, 4. Reduce child mortality, 5. Improve
maternal health, 6. Combat HIV/AIDS, Malaria, TB and other diseases, 7. Ensure
environmental stability, 8. Develop a global partnership for development, 9.
Enhance security.
It is difficult to get any clear cut statistics on the exact amount of
poverty in Afghanistan but about 20% of rural households are chronically food
insecure and another 18% face seasonal food shortages (UNDP). So, 20-40% of
Afghans need varying levels of food assistance at different times of the year.
Despite all of the problems in Afghanistan including war, Afghans have been able
to maintain the required calorie intake (UNDP). Poverty was highest in the west
and central highlands with an average of 65% of the population being food
insecure. This is where the country is lacking in insufficient irrigation. The
UN’s goals for Afghanistan are: The proportion of people whose income is less than
US $1 a day decreases by 3% per annum until the year 2020 and the proportion of
people who suffer from hunger decreases by 5% per annum until the year 2020
(UNDP). The United Nations is going to work on achieving these goals by teaching
proper irrigation methods, primarily.
Greg Mortenson who has personal experience building schools in Afghanistan
stated "If we try to resolve terrorism with military might and nothing else, then
we will be no safer than we were before 9/11. If we truly want a legacy of peace
for our children, we need to understand that this is a war that will ultimately be
won with books, not with bombs." (Mortenson p.133) The second United Nations
Millennium Development Goal is to achieve universal primary education. About one
in five Afghans is a school-aged child. This is the highest percentage wise in the
world. According to the United Nations Development Program “There is currently no
data available in Afghanistan for net enrolment. The school attendance rate is
used as proxy indicator. For 2003 the net attendance was 54%, or 2.3 million
students. The increase in net enrolment between 1997 and 2003 is 50% higher in the
urban areas than in the rural areas.” In 2003, two million, almost twice as many
girls were not enrolled in school. The task before the United Nations is one of
the lowest school participation rates and one of the highest school age
populations in the world, so the task is daunting. According to the United Nations
Development Program “The overall primary completion rate is estimated as 45%. For
boys it is 56% and for girls 30%. This means that of all the boys and girls who
enrolled in Grade 1, slightly more than half the boys and only about one-third
girls complete 5 years of education in the allotted time.” The literacy rate for
15-24 year olds in Afghanistan is 34%, with 50% being men and 18% being women.
There are regional variations, with particularly low literacy rates of the
population in a belt of provinces reaching from the north of the country toward
the south. This can be linked with the lack of roads and infrastructure in these
regions. Afghanistan’s goals for achieving universal primary education is: Ensure
that, by 2020, children everywhere, boys and girls alike, will be able to complete
a full course of primary schooling. They will determine this by: Net enrolment
ratio in primary education, the proportion of pupils starting Grade 1 who reach
grade 5 and literacy rate of 15- to 24-year olds.
The Government of Afghanistan and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and
Cultural Organization on January 28th, 2003 launched a major project to increase
literacy rates throughout the country. The Literacy and Non-formal Education
Development in Afghanistan (LAND AFGHAN) project aims to close the education gap
by building a nationwide network of literacy teachers trained in modern non-formal
education methods. Afghanistan is one of the 35 countries involved in the UNESCO
Literacy Initiative for Empowerment (LIFE), a 10-year initiative aimed at
achieving the goals of the United Nations Literacy Decade (2003-2012). The United
Nations considers provisions set by Afghanistan’s constitution. According to
UNESCO “the draft of the Education Law includes the provision of nine years of
basic education which is standard in many countries and embodies the principles of
Islam. In line with the provisions in the Constitution of Afghanistan, these have
been interlinked with human rights, democratic citizenship, tolerance and mutual
understanding and respect.” The United Nations plans to train 68 provincial and
816 district trainer masters during a “planning period”. As of 2007, the United
Nations will carry out this literacy plan by conducting surveys to determine
levels and patterns of illiteracy in local communities to identify specific needs.
They plan to recruit 17,000 literacy teachers, provide 1,800,000 learners with
basic supplies for literacy classes, and establish 364 CLCs throughout the
country, put in place a program for mosque based literacy courses, and prepare and
run a program for literacy through distance learning. The United Nations along
with the Afghan government will monitor the literacy program’s progress through
regular field visits; an annual province based evaluation and set up an efficient
decentralized information system (UNDP). UNESCO will manage this program by
ensuring proper staffing of the offices in charge of literacy at central,
provincial and district levels, provide the different offices with proper
equipment and means of transportation and a budget for operation and maintenance.
The total operating budget is 22.6 million US dollars and the total development
budget is 47.16 million US dollars (UNDP). Part of the problem the United Nations
is facing is the fact that schools have been built, but they are later taken over
and made in madrassas. The police that protect these schools only make 45 dollars
a month (Cole), so the incentive for these schools to be protected is not that
extensive. The UN Security Council is devising a plan for troops to be deployed to
protect schools, especially along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. There have been
success stories in Afghanistan one being in the city Ali Abad. “Until a few years
ago in Ali Abad, it was unthinkable for females to go out to school or work due to
a climate of uncertainty and insecurity. Not anymore. Once again, women can take
an active part in the social life of the district, go to school, or work out of
home,” says Aqila, a 25 years old teacher at the Ali Abad Girls High School.
The third development goal is to promote gender equality and empower women.
Afghanistan will have to ensure that 5 girls are enrolled at the primary stage for
every 3 boys and 3 girls for every boy at the secondary stage. Afghanistan has the
lowest percentage of female literacy in its neighboring countries (UNDP).
According to the United Nations Development Program- Afghanistan has almost the
highest percentage of seats allocated for women in the national parliament. This
will have little impact on enhancing women's political participation unless women
can also contribute to local-level decision-making at the sub-national levels. At
present, women are poorly represented at the sub-national level and in local
governance bodies. The specific millennial development goals are: Eliminate gender
disparity in all levels of education no later than 2020, Reduce gender disparity
in economic areas by 2020, Increase female participation in elected bodies at all
levels of governance to 30% by 2020, Reduce gender disparity in access to justice
by 50% by 2015 and completely (100%) by 2020 (UNDP). Again to quote Three Cups of
Tea "Once you educate the boys, they tend to leave the villages and go search for
work in the cities, but the girls stay home, become leaders in the community, and
pass on what they’ve learned. If you really want to change a culture, to empower
women, improve basic hygiene and health care, and fight high rates of infant
mortality, the answer is to educate girls"(Mortenson p.245).
The fourth development goal is to reduce child mortality rates.
Afghanistan’s mortality rates are fourth highest in the world. Most deaths among
children under-five years of age in Afghanistan result from infectious vaccine-
preventable illnesses accounting for nearly 60% of deaths. Immunization coverage
of children has increased, but overall it is much higher in urban than in rural
areas. Not surprisingly, infant and child mortality rates are about 20% lower in
urban areas than in rural areas. A measles immunization program was implemented in
2001 and in 2003, 75% of children under 12 months were immunized. Afghanistan’s
revised MDG is: Reduce by 50%, between 2003 and 2015, the under-5 mortality rate,
and further reduce it to 1/3 of the 2003 level by 2020. We are starting to see
improvements in Afghanistan already. There has been a 26 per cent fall in infant
mortality over the past five years and 80 per cent of the population now has
access to health care, compared with 8 per cent under the Taliban.
The fifth Millennium Development Goal is to improve maternal health.
Currently in Afghanistan there are 1600 deaths for every 100,000 live births. This
is equal to the poorest, most disease-ridden communities. The Ragh district has
the highest maternal-mortality rate with 65 deaths per every 1,000 births (UNDP).
Qualified female health-workers are missing in 1/3 of the health facilities in
Afghanistan. About 9/10 pregnancies are delivered in the home and about 8/10 are
not attended by skilled personnel (UNDP). The MDG for Afghanistan is to Reduce by
50% between 2002 and 2015 the maternal mortality ratio, and further reduce the MMR
to 25% of the 2002 level by 2020 (UNDP). The UNFPA director says the high rate of
women who die soon after pregnancy is due to gender discrimination, so along with
improving health care itself the UN’s efforts reducing gender discrimination will
indirectly lower the maternal-mortality rates. The majority of the girls in
Afghanistan, especially in the Badakhshan province are too young; they lack power
and freedom of speech. They do not have any say in who they marry, how many
children they have and when they have them. These girls are living in the most
insolvent circumstances imaginable.
The sixth UN development goal is to combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, TB and other
diseases. The current HIV/AIDS levels are low in Afghanistan but heroin use is
high so it could be easily transmitted by needles and the majority of women in
Afghanistan have never even heard of a contraceptive, let alone use one. In
reference to malaria, in 2004 among 2-3 million people were affected by malaria
(UNDP). The total number of cases of Tuberculosis (TB) is estimated at 333 active
cases and 91 fatalities per 100,000 of the population per year. The UN recognizes
the contributing factors to these diseases as being: Population movements, Lack of
health infrastructure, Poor access to health care, Use of poor quality and
counterfeit medicines, Lack of adherence to treatment regimes, Malnourishment, and
increasing resistance of vectors to chloroquinine, the most widely used anti-
malarial drug. According to the UNDP’s website the disease control related gals
are: to have halted by 2020 and begun to reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS and have
halted by 2020 and begun to reverse the incidence of malaria and other major
diseases.
The seventh major development goal is to ensure environmental security.
Illegal commercial timber logging constitutes a massive threat for the survival of
forests in Afghanistan (UNDP). Only 1 in 3 Afghans in urban areas has access to
improved sanitation. In rural areas, only 1 out of 10 Afghans has access to
improved sanitation. In rural areas, the focus is on the need for hygiene
education and improved latrines; in urban areas there is greater need for
increasing access to functioning sewage systems (UNDP). Nearly 75% of the urban
population, estimated at close to 5 million, may be living in slums. Afghanistan
also has the highest rate of urbanization in Asia, 6% per year, which puts a high
burden on the already weak service delivery in urban centers (UNDP). Afghanistan’s
MDP goals are: to Integrate the principles of sustainable development into country
policies and programs and reverse the loss of environmental resources, halve, by
2020, the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water
and sanitation and by 2020 to have achieved a significant improvement in the lives
of all slum dwellers (UNDP).
The eighth major development goal is to develop a global partnership for
development. Donors disbursed US $8.4 billion for Afghanistan between January 2002
and March 2005 (UNDP). The ODA needs to be increased to as much as US $168 per
capita from the current US $83 and sustained at this level over a 7 year period to
make Afghanistan a financially self-sustaining state with the capacity to meet
basic social needs and start the process of poverty eradication. The larger
amounts of aid should increasingly go to build government legitimacy and capacity
through direct or indirect support of the government budget (UNDP). The UN’s MDGs
are: to deal comprehensively and influence the provision of foreign aid through
appropriate measures to enable Afghanistan develop sustainably in long-term,
develop an open, rule-based predictable, non-discriminatory trading and financial
system including a commitment to good governance, development and poverty
reduction, In cooperation with developing countries, develop and implement
strategies for decent and productive work for youth, In cooperation with
pharmaceutical companies, provide access to affordable essential drugs in
developing countries, and In cooperation with the private sector, make available
the benefits of new technologies, especially information and communications
(UNDP).
The final goal is what Afghanistan recognizes as most important: enhance security.
Security is critical for Afghanistan's reconstruction. Without an adequate level
of security, not only will the country fail to achieve the Millennium Development
Goals, but also developments made during the last four years will be reversed,
increasing the likelihood of resuming large-scale conflict. An estimated 17% of
the GDP was allocated in the 2004-05 national budgets for ANA. Over the next 15
years this is targeted to come down to 3-5%.Comparable to other developing
countries, this is targeted to come down to 3-5% over the next 15 years (UNDP). In
2002, less than 10% of police officers were properly equipped and more than 80% of
the infrastructure had been destroyed during the years of conflict. At the current
rate, the training programs were expected to meet the target of 62,000 trained
personnel yet they have not fully achieved these goals (UNDP). Opium dominates the
national economy. It accounts for one-third of estimated total GDP and 50% of
legal GDP. The total area under poppy cultivation increased by nearly two-thirds
during 2003-04 (UNDP). The goals of the UN are to: Reform and professionalize the
Afghan National Army by 2010, Reform and professionalize the Afghan National
Police by 2010, Reduce the misuse of weapons and the proportion of illegally-held
weapons by 2010, All emplaced antipersonnel mines destroyed by 2013. All other
explosive contaminants destroyed by 2015, all other abandoned or unwanted
explosive stocks destroyed by 2020 and reduce the contribution of opium to the
total (licit and illicit) GDP to less than 5% by 2015 and to less than 1% by 2020
(UNDP). The UN has also implemented a plan know as the DIAG or Disbandment of
Illegal Armed Groups. Mr. Rahman Samet, the district governor of Dawlat Abad in
Faryab Province says, “By implementing the DIAG process, the security environment
will be considerably improved as the illegal weapons are handed in to DIAG”.
The United Nations has a clear, out-lined plan for actions that need to be taken
in Afghanistan, the only thing that concerns me is execution. So far the execution
has varied, we have seen improvements in areas like education in some parts of the
state, but we have also seen an increase in the production of opium. I think a
thorough execution of the Millennial Development Goals will greatly benefit
Afghanistan as well as the rest of the world. We are desperately in need of a
place of stability in the middle east and we need to see a reduction in the
strength of terrorist groups. A democratic, stable, literate, Afghanistan should
be one of the United Nation’s priorities.

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