UN envoy travels to Oslo for conference to raise funds for Afghanistan recovery efforts

The senior United Nations envoy in Afghanistan is travelling to Oslo for the start tomorrow of a pledging conference that aims to raise funds for ongoing humanitarian priorities as well as recovery and reconstruction efforts in the country.

Lakhdar Brahimi, the Special Representative of the Secretary General for Afghanistan, will be at the launch of the Transitional Assistance Programme for Afghanistan (TAPA) appeal from 17 to 18 December, a spokesman for the UN mission said Sunday in Kabul.

Afterwards, Mr. Brahimi is scheduled to travel to Rome to participate in the Conference on Justice in Afghanistan, which will address the administration of justice in the country – its present and future prospects – and assistance for the rebuilding of the Afghan judicial system.

According to UN officials, the $815 million TAPA will replace the Afghan Immediate Transitional Assistance Programme and run from 1 January 2003 to March 2004. The new appeal is intended to address some of the underlying causes of the Afghan crisis, such as poverty, debt, environmental degradation and insecurity.