Afghanistan Report 2009 - Isaf - Nato

SNAPSHOT OF EUROPEAN
Commission efforts
• Contributing to financing salaries and training
of 220,000 public sector workers since 2002;
• Governance issues feature highly within
the EC Country Strategy Paper and
corresponding goals;
• In 2008, 20 million euros were spent
on support to justice (enhancing skills,
strengthening public legal aid and local
dispute resolution capacities, and supporting
the salaries of uniform prison staff);
• With 217.5 million euros, the EC (together
with the US) is the largest contributor to the
Law and Order Trust Fund for Afghanistan
(LOTFA) which enables police to return to
operation throughout the country;
• The EC is one of the major donors to
Afghanistan Sub-national Governance Programme
implemented through UNDP and
focusing on institutional capacity building; it
works closely with the IDLG on the new local
governance policy;
• Support to provincial governance through
programmes implemented by PRTs (10 million
euros); these programmes aim at strengthening
provincial and district administrations
and rule of law institutions (police, judiciary
provincial councils);
As one of the major donors of development assistance
and humanitarian aid to Afghanistan, the European
Commission ( EC ) invested 1.59 billion euros in
Afghanistan between 2002 and 2008. The EC
intervention in Afghanistan is guided by three focal
areas ( rural development, governance and health ) and
three non-focal areas ( social protection, mine action
and regional cooperation ).
Elections
One of the primary tests of a functioning State is its
capability to hold free and fair elections. The first
such elections after the fall of the Taliban were held
in 2004 ( Presidential ) and 2005 ( Parliamentary and
Provincial ). An impressive 75% of eligible voters
participated in the Presidential elections, while 51%
voted in the 2005 Parliamentary and Provincial
Council elections. The 2004/2005 elections were
conducted under the joint responsibility of the UN
and the Government of Afghanistan, in accordance
with the Bonn objectives. The 2009 Presidential
elections will be the first elections held under the sole
responsibility of the Afghan authorities since the fall of
the Taliban. These elections will be a crucial milestone
on Afghanistan’s road to long-term stability.
• Support to UNDP project on AJDL activities
also include the public awareness-raising
campaign, refurbishment of district justice
centres and training of judicial functionaries
(6 million euros);
• A new justice programme (20 million euros)
was approved by the EC in 2008 and will be
implemented throughout 2009. It will include
remuneration of uniform prison personnel,
further support to the UNDP project on
AJDL and support to the implementation of
the NJP.
(Source: EC report to the European Parliament
State of Play, January 2009)
Men assemble outside their Voter Registration Centre in Farah,
on 8 January 2009. Between the male and female registration
sites in Farah City, 300 to 400 Afghans a day registered to vote.
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