The Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan WASHINGTON, DC 2016 The New Afghanistan A TRANSFORMATION IN PROGRESS i Table of Contents A Message from Ambassador Mohib 1 From Destruction to Democracy 2 A decade of state-building Realizing Self-Reliance 6 Implementing a vision for a brighter future Progress in Pictures 8 Snapshots from a country in transition The Third Pillar 10 Strengthening Afghanistan’s economy The 6 Building Blocks of Peace 12 The path to sustainable reconciliation The Way Forward 14 Overcoming our challenges In the Spotlight 16 Profiles A MESSAGE FROM AMBASSADOR MOHIB AFGHANISTAN HAS MADE GREAT PROGRESS since the Taliban regime was ousted in 2001. Today we are a nascent democracy whose people dream of living in a modern, prosperous, peaceful country. In 2014, we began the process of making that dream As ambassador, my time in a reality with the historic election of the National Washington will be spent Unity Government. Under President Ashraf Ghani and deepening the relationship Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah, the government has between Afghanistan and launched a sweeping reform plan to address Afghanistan’s America and searching most intransigent challenges and nurture its most for new opportunities to promising potential. cooperate in ways that can benefit us both. Afghanistan’s “Transformation Decade” is underway and progress has already been made on advancing the rights We do not minimize the of women and girls, eradicating the culture of corruption, challenges before us, but we stimulating private sector investment and business growth, ask others not to minimize strengthening democratic governance and accountability, our commitment to solving confronting drug cultivation and trafficking, and strength- them. Our battles will not ening ties with regional neighbors and international allies. be easily or quickly won. But, just like the American The engine that will drive our country forward will be dream, Afghans also have energetic, optimistic youth: three-quarters of our citizens a dream. Our country are under the age of 35, which gives us an extraordinary was once prosperous and demographic advantage. This is a generation that has only peaceful, with vibrant cities, known instability and uncertainty, which is why they just plentiful opportunities, and want to live in peace and be able to pursue their dreams. world-renowned thinkers President Ghani, in his March 2015 address to Congress, and scientists. We are perfectly captured the mood of Afghans when he said, determined to be that “Ordinary has escaped us, but it is what we desperately want.” country again. We owe an enormous debt to the United States for standing by our side on this journey, and we firmly believe that the U.S.-Afghanistan Partnership will continue to reap benefits for both of our nations. We honor the service and sacrifice of the more than one million soldiers, sailors and Marines and their families who have helped keep Afghanistan free, Hamdullah Mohib, PhD by protecting and building on the gains they helped us Ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan achieve. And we also know that we stand on the shoulders of the 30,000 U.S. civilians and aid workers who helped improve the lives of Afghans. 1 FROM DESTRUCTION TO 2 A Growing National Defense Force DECEMBER SUCCESSFUL SECURITY TRANSITION FROM DEMOCRACY 2014 COALITION TO AFGHAN SECURITY FORCES A decade of state-building Today, Afghanistan is a functioning democracy with a thriving civil society Afghan National Security Forces have reached 92% of recruitment targets and a free media that provides education, health care, and other essential A FORCE OF services to its citizens. In 2001, Afghanistan was nearly bankrupt with most infrastructure destroyed. The international community’s memories of that era, and media stories that continue to portray Afghanistan as 331,944 INCLUDING CIVILIANS a failing state, overshadow the fact that major progress has been made. 1 A Fundamental Change in the Role of Women Afghan Schools and Universities are More women are in government now than at any time in Afghanistan’s history. In 2001, 3 women were not allowed to work or leave their home unaccompanied. Educating Millions of Students of Afghans who voted OUT OF STUDENTS in the 2014 presidential, MORE THAN 9 MILLION National Assembly, and 4 25 are enrolled in school, including 3.6 million girls (compared to less than a Provincial Council elections 40 million boys and no girls during the Taliban era) PERCENT were women Cabinet ministers are women Gross Enrollment Ratio for FIRST LADY students in primary school increased from 135 Rula Ghani public and private universities and plays an active role in advancing women's economic and health care higher education institutes across rights through the Oce of the First Lady, a first for Afghanistan. % the country, with over 250,000 The western media has depicted the Afghan woman as a helpless, weak 21 students enrolled IN 2000 individual. I have said it before and I shall repeat it: the Afghan woman is strong, the Afghan woman is resourceful, the Afghan woman is resilient. TO SPEECH DELIVERED NOVEMBER 2015, ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT OF WOMEN CONFERENCE, BERLIN 106% of Afghans said that women contributed to their families’ IN 2013 22.6% income in 2015. This is a nearly 10% increase from 2009. 2 2 A Growing National Defense Force 2 A Growing National Defense Force A GrowingDECEMBER National Defense Force 2 DECEMBER SUCCESSFUL SECURITY TRANSITION FROM 2014 COALITIONSUCCESSFUL TO SECURITY AFGHAN TRANSITIONSECURITY FORCES FROM COALITION TO AFGHAN SECURITY FORCES DECEMBER2014 SUCCESSFUL SECURITY TRANSITION FROM 2014 COALITION TO AFGHAN SECURITY FORCES Afghan National Security Forces have reached 92% of recruitment targets AAfghan FORCE National OF Security Forces have reached 92% of recruitment targets A FORCE OF Afghan National Security Forces have reached 92% of recruitment targets A 331,944 FORCE OF INCLUDING CIVILIANS 331,944 INCLUDING CIVILIANS 331,944 INCLUDING CIVILIANS 1 A Fundamental Change in the Role of Women 1 A Fundamental Change in the Role of Women Afghan Schools and Universities are More women are in government now than at any time in Afghanistan’s history. 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