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Afghanistan: General Assembly calls for global support during transition period

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Afghanistan: General Assembly calls for global support during transition period

The General Assembly called today on countries to reiterate and scale up their support for Afghanistan during its transition period, and outlined six major areas the country should focus on to ensure its long-term stability and progress.

In a resolution adopted unanimously this morning, the Assembly called for increased efforts in the areas of security, justice and governance, social and economic development, reconciliation and integration, regional cooperation and strategic partnerships.

Security remains a top priority, with the Assembly noting that despite visible progress, terrorism is still a major threat, putting at risk all other areas where there has been progress.

The Assembly welcomed the start of the transition process of security responsibility, which began in July, and called on countries to provide the necessary technical and financial support to create favourable conditions so that Afghan security forces can fully handle security needs in the near future.

Zahir Tanin, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Afghanistan, told the Assembly that in spite of the challenges, the security transition is still on track and Afghan authorities are working with the international community so that by 2014 they can assume full responsibility in all provinces.

The resolution also called for a stronger rule of law and emphasized the importance of building up Afghanistan’s capacity to promote and protect human rights, especially those of women, and strongly condemned incidents of discrimination and violence against them, in particular those directed against women activists and women prominent in public life.

The Assembly also urged the Government to continue its reform of the public administration sector so that it can ensure good governance and accountability and successfully fight corruption and drug production.

In regard to social and economic development, the Assembly appealed to all States as well as non-governmental organizations (NGOs), to continue to provide “all possible and necessary humanitarian, recovery, reconstruction, development, financial, educational, technical and material assistance,” while urging Afghan authorities to improve their aid delivery sectors and services such as energy and drinking water supply to accelerate socioeconomic progress.

The resolution also discussed the importance of building up the peace, reconciliation and reintegration process, particularly in light of the recent assassination of Professor Burhanuddin Rabbani, Chairman of the Afghanistan High Peace Council by a suicide bomber.

The resolution underscored the importance of regional cooperation and strategic partnerships to encourage progress in the region and called upon regional institutions to increase their cooperation with Afghanistan to stimulate growth and stability, while reiterating the UN’s commitment through its Assistance Mission (UNAMA) to coordinate aid and reconstruction programmes.