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First Lady Laura Bush, Dr. Khaled Hosseini,
Mrs. Shamin Jawad, Timothy McBride, and H.E.
Ambassador Said T. Jawad at the Afghan
Children Initiative Benefit March 16,
2006
In This Issue
First US-Afghan Strategic Partnership Talks
 The
first ministerial level meeting for the
further implementation of the U.S.-Afghan
Strategic Partnership was held on March
20-21 in Washington, following President
Hamid Karzai and President George Bush’s May
2005 declaration of the U.S.-Afghan
Strategic Partnership. The Afghan delegation
headed by the outgoing Foreign Minister Dr.
Abdullah Abdullah and Ambassador Said T.
Jawad met with senior U.S. officials from
the White House, Department of State,
Department of Defense, Department of
Commerce, Department of Treasury, Department
of Justice, USAID, and the US Trade
Representative to discuss key provisions of
the Partnership and review the progress made
in the areas of security, governance, and
prosperity. The delegations established
specific mechanisms to enhance security
coordination between the two countries.
The United States reaffirmed its commitment
to Afghanistan’s long-term security,
agreeing to explore the establishment of a
Defense Cooperation Forum. The U.S. also
affirmed its commitment to further building
the operational capacity of the Afghan
National Army and the Afghan National
Police, and expressed support for
Afghanistan’s participation in the bilateral
“Peace for Partnership” NATO program. In the
area of governance, the U.S. committed to
launching the Afghan Building Capacity (ABC)
program to enhance institutional capacity at
both the national and provincial level. The
ABC program will train instructors and
managers, increase people-to-people
educational and professional exchanges, and
bolster the capacity of officials to deliver
public services. Both sides reaffirmed their
commitment to reducing the production and
trafficking of narcotics in Afghanistan. The
Government of Afghanistan will continue
widespread operations now underway to
eradicate opium poppies and prosecute drug
traffickers, while the U.S. will further
provide alternative livelihood assistance to
Afghan farmers.
The two delegations agreed on continuing
efforts to improve trade and infrastructure
links between Afghanistan and its neighbors
as a crucial step in Afghanistan’s
initiative to restore the country’s historic
role as a land bridge connecting Central and
South Asia. To assist with Afghanistan’s
economic growth and create more jobs, the
U.S. Administration will work with Congress
to establish Reconstruction Opportunity
Zones in Afghanistan. This program will
grant duty-free treatment to selected goods
produced jointly in designated areas of
Afghanistan. The U.S. reiterated its support
for Afghanistan’s participation in the
Central Asian Trade and Investment Framework
Agreement, which will facilitate
Afghanistan’s integration into regional and
world markets. Moreover, both delegations
endorsed the next steps for the Businesses
Building Bridges (BBB) initiative which will
enlist top U.S. business leaders to build
partnerships with Afghan entrepreneurs and
provide strategic guidance on encouraging
private sector development. The success of
these meetings underscores the shared
U.S.–Afghan vision of an Afghanistan that is
a peaceful, democratic ally in regional and
world affairs. The next U.S.-Afghanistan
Strategic Partnership meeting will be held
in Kabul later this year.
First Lady
Laura Bush Attends Dinner Reception at the
Embassy
First
Lady Laura Bush attended a dinner reception
to benefit AYENDA, the Afghan Children
Initiative, at the Embassy of Afghanistan on
March 16. AYENDA, or “Future,” is a program
of the U.S.-Afghan Women's Council and will
promote the welfare, education, and health
of Afghan children. The First Lady is a
member of the Council, which President
George Bush and President Karzai founded in
January 2002. Mrs. Bush has visited
Afghanistan twice to highlight the U.S.
commitment to helping Afghan women and
children, and is a strong supporter of the
Afghan Children Initiative. Commenting on
AYENDA, the First Lady stated:
“Afghanistan's future depends on literate,
educated, and healthy children. This
terrific initiative that we're all here to
support tonight will make a difference.
Through this program, we can all have a
direct impact on Afghan children and their
families. Each of us can give them the
opportunities to do things that were once
thought impossible dreams.”
“Afghans today enjoy more political,
economic, and social rights than at any time
in the history of our country. Among all the
achievements, nothing is more beautiful and
promising than the sight of Afghan girls in
their black and white uniforms, attending
class under a tree in a small village,”
Ambassador Jawad told a distinguished
audience including Secretary of Defense and
Mrs. Donald Rumsfeld and Chairman of the
Joint Chiefs of Staff General and Mrs. Peter
Pace. The event also featured Dr. Khaled
Hosseini, author of the international
bestseller The Kite Runner, as a guest of
honor. Dr. Hosseini spoke about the plight
of Afghan children to help raise funds for
educational programs in Afghanistan’s
Bamiyan province—home to the giant Buddha
statutes destroyed by the Taliban in
2000—where poverty is affecting children’s
access to education. Mrs. Shamim Jawad, the
Ambassador’s wife, initiated AYENDA and
serves as the organization’s co-chair. “More
than one third of Afghanistan’s population
is children. They have been the primary
victim of abject poverty, which engulfs our
nation after decades of war and destruction.
We have more than two million orphans alone.
Many Afghan children, especially girls,
still lack access to education,” Mrs. Jawad
remarked. “I strongly believe that with the
generous and compassionate support of
friends like you, we can work together to
help children live their dreams for a better
and secure future in Afghanistan”. Other
distinguished guests who attended AYENDA
included Undersecretary of Democracy and
Global Affairs Paula Dobriansky, Mrs.
Kathleen Card, and Deputy Assistant
Secretary of Defense for International
Security Mary Beth Long.
World
Leaders Pledge Support for Afghanistan
Canadian
Prime Minister Stephen Harper visited
Afghanistan in March to demonstrate
Canadian solidarity with the Government
of Afghanistan and to promote the
expanding role of Canadian soldiers in
the country. During his trip, Prime
Minster Harper visited an air base in
Kandahar and addressed 1,000 Canadian
soldiers. “There may be some who want to
cut and run. But cutting and running is
not your way. It's not my way and it's
not the Canadian way,” the Prime
Minister said. During a news conference
with President Karzai in Kabul, he
continued to elaborate on Canada’s
partnership with Afghanistan, “Unless we
control the security situation in
countries like Afghanistan we will see
our own security diminished.” Following
a visit to Iraq, the Australian Prime
Minister John Howard made a brief
stopover in Afghanistan to visit
Australian Defense Force personnel.
Approximately 200 highly trained
Australian troops work closely with the
Afghan National Army. Later this year,
Australia will deploy a reconstruction
task force as part of the
Netherlands-led Provincial
Reconstruction Team (PRT). On March 10,
Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis
Rodriguez Zapatero announced that he
would request that Spain’s parliament
authorize sending an additional 200
soldiers to the International Security
Assistance Force in Afghanistan. The new
deployment will boost the number of
Spanish soldiers in ISAF to 740.
NATO Expanding
Operations in Afghanistan
NATO
is in the process of taking over some of the
United States’ military responsibilities in
Afghanistan. Five to six thousand American
forces will join the NATO-led International
Security Assistance Force (ISAF), which will
more than double in size by November, from
its current 10,000 troops to around 21,000
troops. NATO will shift its troop
deployments from relatively quiet areas in
the north to play a more active military
role in south and east of Afghanistan. The
US troops will be reduced to 16,500 by this
summer, which in cooperation with NATO will
maintain a counterterrorism force to hunt
Taliban and al-Qaida holdouts.
On
March 15 the NATO forces in Afghanistan
recovered the biggest cache of weapons found
in the country since the fall of the
Taliban, which included 80 tons of TNT and
25,000 anti- personnel and anti-tank mines
made in the former Soviet Union. The
stockpile was discovered in Jawzjan province
in northern Afghanistan.
Saffron May
Replace Opium as Cash Crop
The
Saffron Tilling Company, a private Afghan
company, is improving opportunities for
former poppy farmers seeking alternative
livelihoods by distributing saffron bulbs to
farmers in northern Afghanistan. Company
officials think saffron will succeed where
other crops have not because it is such a
sought after crop that commands high prices
in the world spice market. The saffron
flower yields a long red filament which,
when dried, makes a pungent spice used in
medicine and cooking. As many as 75,000
saffron plants are necessary to yield one
kilogram of the spice. 14,000 kilos of
saffron bulbs have been distributed to 100
farmers. If the experiment is successful,
the company will import 200-300 tons of
saffron bulbs next year to sell to farmers.
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USAID
Funding Infrastructure and Health
Development
On
March 12, U.S. Ambassador to
Afghanistan Ronald Neumann
inaugurated the construction of an
eight-kilometer Helmand province
road from Lashkargah to the historic
Bust Fort. The road is being
constructed with $320,000 from the
United States Agency for
International Development (USAID).
Earlier in the month,
construction began on a
half-kilometer bridge on the
Harirood River in Herat. It is hoped
that this bridge will minimize
congestion on the Kandahar-Herat
Highway. USAID also inaugurated a
health clinic in Paktia province.
The 12-room clinic, equipped with
requisite instruments, opened on
March 5. Ibn-e-Sina, a health
organization, will fund the clinic
and pay the salaries of its
eight-member staff, which includes
two vaccinators and a midwife. USAID
has constructed 13 clinics that
benefit around 20,000 residents of
Paktia.
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Archeologist
Hopeful that Third Buddha Will Be Found
Five
years after Bamiyan’s two ancient Buddha
statues were destroyed an Afghan-born
archeology professor may uncover a third
1000 foot-long Buddha. Professor Zemaryali
Tarzi is one of the world's foremost experts
on the demolished Bamiyan Buddhas. Before
fleeing the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan
in 1979, he spent three decades studying the
area and making regular repairs to the two
giant Buddhas. Professor Tarzi plans to
return to Bamiyan this summer to continue
his excavations after spending the last four
summers leading a team of French
archeologists in a search for the fabled
third Buddha. Throughout his career,
Professor Tarzi has sought this statue, and
now he is exploring a new lead, the travel
journal of a Chinese tourist from the year
632 A.D. It is estimated that a large
percentage of Afghanistan’s antiquities have
either been looted or destroyed; discovering
a third Buddha would be an invaluable
addition to Afghanistan’s cultural
treasures.
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Embassy Responds to Public
Questions on Afghanistan
Reconstruction
Development
Gateway recently hosted the Embassy
to discuss public questions on
various aspects of the “Afghanistan
Reconstruction” process. First
Secretary M. Ashraf Haidari took
public questions over a two-week
period and discussed them in detail
online
here.
The Development Gateway maintains an
Afghanistan Reconstruction page,
which gives participating
individuals and organizations the
ability to connect with a community
of nearly 6,000 practitioners, find
more than 3,000 reports and news
articles, join in online
discussions, find job announcements,
and access 1,700 records on
Afghanistan-related development
projects.
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In the Media
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Statement
from
Ambassador
Said T.
Jawad |
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USGS
Announces Oil and Gas Assessment
Findings at the Embassy
Ambassador
Jawad and Acting Director of the US
Geological Survey (USGS) P. Patrick
Leahy announced the results of the
first-ever assessment of
Afghanistan’s undiscovered petroleum
resources on March 14, 2006. The
USGS and the Afghan Ministry of
Mines and Industry conducted the
comprehensive assessment of oil and
gas resources for northern
Afghanistan, and determined that the
petroleum resource of northern
Afghanistan is significantly greater
than previously understood. The
estimates increase the oil resources
by 18 times and more than triple the
natural gas resources. Undiscovered
petroleum resources in the assessed
region of northern Afghanistan
consist of about 36.5 trillion cubic
feet (TCF) of natural gas and around
3.6 billion barrels of oil (BBO).
Natural gas liquids are estimated at
about 1.3 million barrels (MMB).
“Within two to three years, the
prospects are there for companies to
start exploring oil and gas. The
legal infrastructure is in place for
the companies to come in,” said
Ambassador Jawad. USTDA Regional
Director Daniel Stein confirmed that
Afghanistan’s business environment
had improved. “I have been to
Afghanistan more than 10 times so
far. Each time, I have noticed
considerable progress having taken
place in the country,” he remarked.
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Afghanistan’s National Income Per Capita to
Increase to $335
President
Hamid Karzai was briefed by the Central Bank
of Afghanistan about the significant growth
of Afghanistan’s national income per capita
to $293 for the year 1384 (2005-2006). In
his election manifesto, the President had
committed himself to increasing
Afghanistan’s national income per capita
from $200 to $500 within 5 years. This
growth rate indicates a significant step
towards a full-fledged economy. Da
Afghanistan Bank has had notable success in
containing inflationary pressures on the
Afghan economy. During the year 1384,
Afghanistan’s inflation rate was ten per
cent and food prices had significantly
fallen. Only the inflation rate for house
rents and oil prices had risen. The
President thanked the governor of the
Central Bank and called the report good news
for the future of Afghanistan’s economy and
for the improvement of living conditions.
First Secretary Haidari
Addresses Global Policy &
Development Conference
First
Secretary M. Ashraf Haidari
addressed the Global Policy and
Development Conference on
“Nation/State Building in the
Contemporary International System”
at the Old Dominion University in
Norfolk, Virginia on March 31.
Secretary Haidari discussed the
Afghanistan Compact and the
Afghanistan National Development
Strategy to address the country’s
rebuilding needs and long-term
developmental goals. Secretary
Haidari urged continued
international support to secure the
future of Afghanistan, thereby
maintaining international peace and
security. “We fully understand that
Afghanistan’s secure future squarely
depends on continuing to strengthen
the Circle of Justice in our
country—the Circle of Justice which
the ninth century Islamic scholar
Ibn Qutayba described as follows:
‘There can be no government without
an army; No army without money; No
money without prosperity; And no
prosperity without justice and good
administration,” said Secretary
Haidari at the conclusion of his
remarks. The conference was
co-sponsored by the University of
Southern Mississippi International
Development Ph.D. Program and the
Association for Global Policy and
Development.
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President Karzai Initiates Polio
Vaccination Campaign
President
Karzai initiated this year’s polio
vaccination campaign by
administering a vitamin A tablet and
polio vaccine to an Afghan child.
The Government of Afghanistan
vaccinated more than 7 million
children under the age of five
against polio this month. About
40,000 people, including volunteers,
supervisors, district coordinators
and monitors went house to house to
immunize more than 7.2 million
children under the age of five. In
addition, some 5.2 million children
received Vitamin A supplements. The
Ministry of Health is working in
partnership with UN agencies to
achieve the goal of a polio-free
Afghanistan. The campaign is being
funded through contributions from
UNICEF, the World Bank, Rotary
International and the governments of
Britain, Japan and the United
States.
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Effective Counter-Narcotics Campaign
Yielding Positive Results
Throughout
the month of March, Afghan security
officials and counter-narcotics
agents stepped up a countrywide
anti-drugs campaign in which
eradication was paired with the
promotion of alternative livelihood
projects. In Kandahar province,
7,500 acres of poppy crops were torn
up by tractors; farmers received
improved wheat seeds and fertilizers
on deferred payments as
compensation. Approximately 942
kilograms of narcotics were seized
on March 4 in a string of raids by
law-enforcement personnel in Herat
province. On March 20, Afghan police
announced that more than 40 heroin
factories had been destroyed in the
Shinwari, Achin, Nazian and Spin
Ghar districts of Nangarhar
province. Prior to the raid, the
Nangarhar provincial council sent a
delegation to talk to elders on the
necessity of poppy eradication. In
March the U.S. State Department
released its annual report on
narcotics production worldwide,
which reported that the cultivation
of opium poppies in Afghanistan fell
by nearly half in 2005. The report
also noted that the amount of land
in Afghanistan cultivated for
poppies in 2005 decreased by 48%.
American counter-narcotics officials
said they were pleased to see
cultivation shrinking, a trend they
attributed to concerted efforts by
the Government of Afghanistan and
its international partners.
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US Pledges Funding to Train Afghan
Counter-Narcotics Police
The
United States pledged $763 million
in March for the training of special
Afghan counter-narcotics forces,
border police and Kabul Airport
police. Through the Afghanistan
Compact, the Government of
Afghanistan has undertaken a
five-year plan to effectively
enhance its law enforcement
capability. Police forces are
continually expanding their presence
and improving their efficacy in
operation throughout the country. On
March 9, police recovered 27 bags of
bomb-making chemicals weighing over
10 tons in Baghlan province. Also,
the U.S. Military’s Office of
Security Cooperation improved Afghan
radio communications and safety
readiness by adopting
Raytheon-produced devices that will
improve interfacing between Afghan
military and police officers.
Midwife Training Academy
Graduates 30 Women
A
Khowst Midwife Training Academy
held its first graduation
ceremony this month on
International Women’s Day. U.S.
Ambassador Ronald Neumann flew
from Kabul to Khowst to
distribute the diplomas.
Afghanistan’s high fertility
rate has created a large demand
for trained midwives and
obstetricians. Academies like
this will contribute to a
decrease in Afghanistan’s 16
percent infant mortality rate,
which is 25 times greater than
the U.S. rate. “This will be a
historic event for the women of
this province,” said Khowst
governor Merajuddin Patan. “This
is the dawn of women
participation in public life
here. This will open the gate
for more participation of
women.” Patan noted that even
conservative religious leaders
recognize the need for competent
midwives and support their
training. The 18-month midwifery
course is part of a three-year,
$105 million USAID program.
Afghanistan Welcomes Canadian Coffee
Tim
Hortons, Canada’s largest coffee
shop franchise, announced in March
that a Tim Hortons store will open
at Afghanistan’s Kandahar airfield
within the next few months. The shop
will sell donuts and coffee, and
will be staffed by a Canadian
military unit responsible for troop
morale."We are extremely proud to be
able to bring a little taste of home
to our troops stationed in Kandahar,"
said Tim Hortons Chief Executive
Paul House. Earlier this year, the
2,300 strong Canadaian forces
assumed control of a NATO mission in
the southern Afghan province of
Kanawha.
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