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665B1bd2d69bd19149257850 CIVIL - MILITARY FUSION CEN TRE Afghanistan Review Week 10 09 March 2011 Comprehensive Information on Complex Crises INSIDE THIS ISSUE This document provides a weekly overview of developments in Afghanistan from 02 March—08 March 2011, with hyper-links to source material highlighted in blue and underlined in the text. For Economic Development more information on the topics below or other issues pertaining to events in Afghanistan, feel free to con- Governance & Participation tact the members of the Afghanistan Team, or visit our website at www.cimicweb.org. Humanitarian Affairs Infrastructure Rule of Law Security Economic Development Steven A. Zyck ► [email protected] Socio-Cultural Development fghan government agencies and de- construction team (PRT) and agriculture offi- velopment agencies such as the Inter- cials in the province began the distribution of ABOUT THE CFC national Labour Organisation (ILO) 45,000 apple tree seedlings. Nine districts in A estimate that between 30% and 50% of Af- the province will receive 5,000 seedlings each, The Civil-Military Fusion Centre ghans are unemployed, according to Outlook with individual farmers receiving approxi- (CFC) is an Information and Afghanistan. Experts attribute the recent per- mately 30 seedlings in most areas. While Knowledge Management sistence of unemployment to conflict, a lack of USAID hopes that the seedlings will promote organisation focused on market-relevant educational and vocational commercial apple production, Afghan agricul- improving civil-military interaction, training opportunities and the Afghan govern- ture officials noted that farmers in the area facilitating information sharing and ment‟s hesitancy to establish state-owned en- will need significant training on how to grow enhancing situational awareness terprises. apples and manage orchards. According to the through the CimicWeb portal. Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) of Approximately 50,000 hectares of land have the United Nations, Afghanistan has steadily CFC products are developed with reportedly been cultivated with poppies in increased its volume of apple exports over the open-source information from a Helmand province in 2011, 40% less than last course of the past several years. In 2003, Af- wide variety of organisations and year, reports Pajhwok Afghan News. Officials ghanistan exported an estimated 321 tonnes of media sources. in Helmand indicate that 3,000 hectares of apples, an amount which had risen to 1,403 poppies will be eradicated this year and a ma- tonnes by 2008. The CFC is represented in Kabul by jor eradication drive is set to begin around the a Forward Military Liaison Officer, provincial capital of Lashkar Gah. In addition Pajhwok notes that top officials from the Af- Maj. Gary Evans, who is embedded to stronger law enforcement and eradication ghanistan Chamber of Commerce and Indus- within ISAF. efforts, the decline in poppy cultivation can tries (ACCI) and the National Traders Union also be attributed to the international commu- (NTU) are calling for a regional conference on By design, CFC products or links to nity and Afghan government's distribution of trade cooperation. The goal of the conference independently produced articles do high-quality wheat seeds and fertilizer to would be to gain the agreement of the Paki- not necessarily represent the 48,000 farmers in Helmand earlier this year. stani and Iranian governments to cease hinder- opinions, views or official position ing Afghanistan's trade by imposing sanctions of any other organisation. Poppy control achievements in Helmand were and blocking imports. Most recently, the Gov- also featured in the United States Department ernment of Pakistan stopped 6,000 containers of State‟s (DoS) 2011 International Narcotics . CONTACT THE CFC of Afghanistan-bound goods in Karachi based Control Strategy Report. This report indicates on the belief that the items may be illegally For further information, contact: that efforts undertaken by the United States sold in Pakistan rather than continuing on into Agency for International Develop- Afghanistan. Afghanistan Team Manager ment (USAID) and the Helmand provincial Valeria Davanzo government‟s “Food Zone Program” led to a Finally, Pajhwok noted that fuel prices, in line [email protected] 7% reduction in poppy cultivation between with global trends, continue to rise in Afghani- Afghanistan Editor 2009 and 2010. Nevertheless, the State De- stan. The price of a litre of diesel fuel in- partment report notes that southern and south- Amber Ramsey creased from AFN 53 (USD 1.23) last week to western provinces in Afghanistan continue to [email protected] AFN 55 (USD 1.28) this week. These prices produce 98% of the country‟s poppy crop. are significantly higher than a year earlier, The Afghanistan Team when diesel sold for around AFN 40 (USD [email protected] In other agriculture-related news, Pajhwok 0.93) per litre. reported that USAID, Paktika provincial re- Governance & Participation Anne-Catherine Claude ► [email protected] he International Contact Group on Afghanistan held its immediate dissolution of the SEC based on its creation being first meeting of 2011 on 03 March at the headquarters “unconstitutional”. The new Speaker of the House, Abdul Rauf T of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) in Ibrahimi, supported the call by MPs and further proposed that Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The meeting brought together some 120 a delegation be sent to meet with the president to relay their participants representing fifty countries, including OIC mem- demands. The Head of the SEC, Siddiqullah Haqiq, rejected ber countries and international organisations such as the the demands, stating that the SEC will continue its work as United Nations and the European Union, to discuss peace and “[the SEC‟s] duty is to maintain justice”. In the meantime, the security in Afghanistan. According to an OIC press release, the Director of the Free and Fair Election Foundation of Afghani- required participation of OIC member states “indicates the stan (FEFA), Jandad Spinghar, criticised the recount process, active involvement by the OIC and its members to resolve the arguing that it “may plunge the country into another political Afghan issue”. This meeting was also attended by the new US crisis”. He further added that it would have been more con- special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, Marc structive for the SEC to investigate criminal cases and prose- Grossman, as part of his first official trip, adds Agence France- cute officials found to be involved in election violations. Presse. Afghanistan was represented by Foreign Minister Zal- mai Rassoul and Chairman of the High Peace Council, Burha- In other news, Pajhwok reports that MPs have elected Khalid nuddin Rabbani. During his opening remarks, Secretary Gen- Pakhtun as deputy speaker of the Wolesi Jirga. MPs also eral of the OIC Professor Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu emphasised elected representatives for four of the lower house‟s 18 parlia- the OIC‟s strong commitment to national reconciliation in Af- mentary commissions on 07 March. Members of the remaining ghanistan and underlined that “for restoring durable peace in commissions will be elected later this week, says Pajhwok. Afghanistan, there is a need to look beyond the military option, The new deputy speaker reiterated previous calls by MPs for which is not the way out, and there is a need for an Afghan-led President Hamid Karzai to introduce the remaining ministerial reconciliation process towards a comprehensive solution”. candidates before the parliament for a vote of confidence, says Reuters further reports that the participants at the meeting ac- Tolo TV. Late June was the last time Karzai introduced any knowledged the need to shift toward a political rather than nominees to the lower house and since then seven ministerial military approach in Afghanistan to put an end to the war. posts have yet to be approved by parliament; these posts have been temporarily filled by acting ministers until the final nomi- Pajhwok Afghan News reports that the Special Election Court nees are approved by MPs. (SEC) has begun recounting parliamentary election votes (see 02 March, CFC Afghanistan Review, Governance section) for The Independent Administrative Reform and Civil Services Kabul province. Recounting has been completed in Kunar Commission (IARCSC) has issued a set of recommendations province, says the article, and is still underway in southern requesting incentives for government civil servants in southern Kandahar province. According to another Pajhwok article, Zabul province. According to Abdul Aziz Wogarai, the head vote recounting in Kunar province uncovered cases of fraud at of the IARCSC in Zabul, due to insecurity and low salaries a number of polling stations. A final report on the SEC‟s find- residents in the province are reluctant to join the government, ings in Kunar was sent to Kabul, but no further information with more than 50% of posts not yet filled. Therefore, the was given on the future of the process. Meanwhile, for the IARCSC has proposed increased salaries to attract skilled peo- third time since the inauguration of Afghanistan‟s Parliament ple along with other non-monetary incentives such as training on 26 January, Members of Parliament (MPs) pushed for the courses and facilities for new appointees. Humanitarian Affairs Erin Foster ► [email protected] he United Nations Children‟s Fund (UNICEF) has re- The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees leased a new report, “2011 UNICEF Humanitarian Ac- (UNHCR) Goodwill Ambassador, Angelina Jolie, visited Af- T tion for Children: building resilience”, setting the or- ghan refugee returnee families living in a warehouse outside of ganisation‟s worldwide priorities for the year. UNICEF‟s ap- Kabul and called for urgent action to be taken to improve liv- proach involves supporting governments‟ resilience to with- ing conditions including access to health care, education, em- stand disasters in order to reduce the number of people sub- ployment and water and sanitation for thousands of individu- jected to humanitarian crises.
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