Name : Tedi Gunawan (Student ID 5521180066-5)

Course : Research Training

Assignment : Short essay on the international symposium: State-building Efforts in Afghanistan

Afghanistan was invaded by US on October 7, 2001 in an attempt to overthrow the

Taliban who is believed to have hidden Osama bin Laden. Now that most US and NATO
troops have withdrawn, but after 18 years the super-costly invasion, the deadly war never
end in that country. In the first half of this year, according to the United Nations, 5,100
civilians were victims and 1,600 of them died. Over the past year no less than 11,000
civilians were killed or injured in various attacks, hit by mines or crossfire that took place in
31 of 34 provinces in Afghanistan. At least since 2009, according to records of the US
Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) as many as 23,000 people were killed and
41,000 others injured.
Corruption also used up most of the aid funds after the Taliban government
collapsed. So that Transparency International accuses the state of failing to provide the
most basic services for citizens. As a result, this organization places Afghanistan as the third
most corrupt country in the world.
The international conference of donor countries in Brussels, Belgium agreed in 2016
to disburse aid of 15.2 billion US dollars for the next four years for Afghanistan. This money
is expected to be used to accelerate the reconstruction effort and reduce unemployment to
40 percent according to World Bank data. At present there are 1.2 million Afghans
becoming refugees in the country and this number continues to grow because of security
conditions that have not improved. Pakistan currently has 2.4 million Afghan refugees while
another refugee resides in Iran. According to estimates by the Norwegian Refugee Council
(NRC) and confirmed by the Afghan government, 70 percent of residents living in big cities,
including Kabul, live in shacks.

State-building Efforts in Afghanistan

Although the condition of Afghanistan after the Taliban regime collapsed is still not
safe and stable, efforts to develop the country continue. Japan, through JICA, has restarted
cooperation with the Afghan government, which had been stopped during the Taliban
regime. Assistance was provided in various forms for new processes in Afghanistan, such as
the establishment of a constitution that would form the basis of the state, the creation of
democratic systems, and the realization of elections. While building effective public
institutions from zero for the stable provision of public services, human resource
development was also essential to ensure the institutions had the necessary support.
There have been several improvements that have been successfully carried out by
JICA and the Afghan government. The priority areas for Japan and JICA on capacity building
in the health system by Afghans themselves are maternal and child health and tuberculosis
(TB) control. Nowadays, the rate of maternal deaths and TB gradually decreased. In gender
equality, many Japanese experts were dispatched to the ministry to firmly embed the notion
of gender equality in Afghan society, and they have steadily worked on paving the way to
the institution building in the government. Some Afghan women also had the opportunity to
be invited to Japan to observe various aspects of the country.

Reference:
https://www.jica.go.jp/jica-ri/publication/booksandreports/jrft3q00000029jjatt/file_2873.pdf