International Community in Solidarity with Afghanistan at Special UN Summit
22 countries attended a high-level meeting on Afghanistan led by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon at the 62nd Session of the General Assembly of the United Nations on September 23. Participants reviewed progress toward implementing the Afghanistan Compact, a five-year development blueprint launched in January 2006 by Kabul and some 70 foreign partners.
The meeting focused on promoting security, good governance, the rule of law, human rights and economic and social development in Afghanistan, as well as how to fight international terrorism. Also present were the Asian Development Bank, the European Union, the European Commission, NATO, and the World Bank. The meeting’s participants reaffirmed their countries’ commitment to the emergence of Afghanistan as a stable, peaceful, prosperous and democratic member of the family of nations. The meeting’s participants called on the international community to help strengthen the Joint Coordination and Monitoring Board and the role of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General.
The 22 country representatives stressed the need for sustained international efforts to support Afghanistan, as well as the central and impartial role of the United Nations in leading the efforts of the international community. They commended the progress made so far in Afghanistan, noting gains in economic development and humanitarian indicators, as well as steps taken to improve the security situation, and appreciated the efforts of the International Security Assistance Force and Operation Enduring Freedom.
The participants noted that the restoration of security cannot be solved by military means alone, and pledged to improve civil and military coordination. The participants unequivocally condemned terrorist and other illegal activities, which hindered the establishment of the rule of law, the provision of basic services to the Afghan people, and the full enjoyment of their human rights and fundamental freedoms.
The participants welcomed recent initiatives to reinforce regional cooperation, including the 
Afghanistan-Pakistan joint peace jirga, the establishment of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization-Afghanistan Contact Group and Afghanistan's entry into the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation.
Following the meeting, President Hamid Karzai joined UN Secretary-General Ki-Moon for a joint press conference and issued a joint communiqué reaffirming the commitment of the international community in supporting the Afghan government. “The international community has reaffirmed its commitment to support the Afghan Government’s efforts in terms of economic and social cooperation,” said the Secretary General.
“In the meeting today, I thanked the international community for its support to Afghanistan in the past six years, for the sacrifice that the men and women of ISAF and the international community have made in Afghanistan, and continue to make in Afghanistan, for bringing their precious tax payers money to Afghanistan, to rebuild Afghanistan, and for helping Afghanistan stand back on its own feet,” said President Karzai.
