Sommaire: 20 Febraury 2008, Brussels - The Commissioner for External Relations and European Neighbourhood Policy, Benita Ferrero-Waldner will attend the EU-Afghanistan Ministerial Troika meeting together with Slovene Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel currently holding the EU Presidency, French State Secretary Rama Yade and Afghan Foreign Minister Rangin Dadfar Spanta in Ljubljana on 21st February.
The agenda includes state of play of the Afghanistan Compact, the EU contribution to improving law and order in the country, counter-narcotics, and regional developments. The Commission has made available a package worth €610 million for Afghanistan for 2007-2010. The package focuses on three key priority areas: reform of the justice sector; rural development including alternatives to poppy production; and health. The Commission remains one of the top donors in Afghanistan and one of the
very few giving a multi-year commitment.
On the eve of the ministerial meeting, Commissioner Ferrero-Waldner said: " The EU continues to honour its commitments: With €1.2 billion since 2002 we are now implementing our assistance programme 2007-2010 to help Afghanistan build a more secure and prosperous future. Afghanistan needs this long-term commitment to ensure that prosperity and stability will become consistently accessible to all Afghan people.
She added: "Afghanistan's problems cannot be solved without stronger governance and respect for the rule of law. Promotion of the rule of law will remain one of our key priorities for the years to come".
Rule of Law
In 2007 the Commission launched a new programme of support to the justice sector, and placed experts in key justice institutions (Ministry of Justice, Supreme Court and the Attorney General's office) to draw up a major programme of reforms in the judiciary and legal services in Afghanistan. The aim is to improve the qualifications, recruitment, and career structure for judges and prosecutors and to introduce a code of ethics.
Commission initiatives in this field complement the ESDP mission on policing, which has been launched by Member States in 2007.
As the largest donor to the Law and Order Trust Fund for Afghanistan (€200 million since 2002), the Commission has already made a major contribution to supporting the salaries and training needs of the Afghan police, and this work will continue.
In addition to these activities in the justice sector, the Commission's current package also supports capacity building in local and regional administration, with a view to increasing the focus on the rule of law in the provinces.
Border management
EC projects in support of border management posts already begin to pay off: the EC funded border post with Pakistan has been completed and customs revenues have increased by €28m in the last year in support of Afghanistan's public finances. More border projects focussing on the border with Central Asia are already launched under a €50m programme to improve Afghanistan's border management and customs administration.
Rural Development
Law enforcement alone cannot solve the problem of poppy production. The Commission supports rural development programmes in the North East and East of Afghanistan, aiming to reduce poppy dependence through alternative livelihoods. Despite overall increases in opium cultivation in 2007, there are encouraging signs of sustained reductions in areas where the Commission has been active in the Northeast of Afghanistan, once the main poppy rich provinces. The Commission will continue its work in
these provinces to ensure there is no return to poppy there.
Health
The European Commission is one of the three key donors to the health sector (with the World Bank and the US). The new package will continue to focus on provision of primary health services in Afghanistan. Already, primary health has been extended from 7% to cover over 80% of Afghanistan now. As a result, child mortality has been reduced by 25%. Now, the aim is to help lift the coverage of basic health services to near 100% by the end of 2010. Health clinics will be built or repaired and medical
staff trained. To date, Commission funds have built over 200 clinics.
Public administration
EC contributions to the Afghanistan Reconstruction Trust Fund (€187m) have been critical not only for small scale infrastructure projects through such as programmes in villages, but also for supporting the public service. Almost a quarter million Afghan public servants - including doctors and nurses, teachers - have restarted and continued in their jobs since 2002 due to the ARTF support to government budget.
For more information please visit: http://ec.europa.eu/comm/external_relations/afghanistan/intro/index.htm
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