Statement delivered by Ambassador Ranko Vilovic, Permanent Representative of the Republic of Croatia to the United Nations, on the UN Security Council debate on Afghanistan.
Thank you Madam President. I would like to begin by thanking the Special Representative of the Secretary General Mr. Kai Eide, for his comprehensive briefing and for presenting the SG's report on the situation in Afghanistan. We thank Mr. Eide for the exemplary leadership he has provided under extremely harsh circumstances as well as to all UNAMA staff for their dedication and courage. We would also like to welcome the Permanent Representative of Afghanistan, Mr. Tanin, to this table.
Croatia welcomes the holding of the first Presidential and Provincial Council Elections held last month, run entirely by the Afghan government with the support of the UNDP-ELECT project. In the same breath, we would like to praises the brave people of Afghanistan for their readiness to take an active part in determining the future course of their country, despite the many serious difficulties they are faced with and the self-evident risks this involves.
As we have been informed, the there have been grave allegations that the recently held elections were marred with serious irregularities and fraud. It is thanks to the existing electoral safeguards, including national and international observers, as well as a large number of candidate agents, that much of the fraud that did occur was discovered and referred to the relevant institution. We hope that the process currently under way within the Electoral Complaint Commission will soon be completed and will enable the Independent Electoral Commission to certify the elections results.
Croatia deeply deplores not only the loss of life and barbaric destruction that occurred during preparations for the holding of these elections as well as on election day, but also a new height in the number of killed and maimed as a result of ever increasing violence in the country. We strongly condemn the deliberate targeting of civilians and reliance on asymmetric tactics in total disregard of human lives and basic human values. Croatia welcomes the new approach adopted by the new ISAF Commander with the protection of civilians at its center and the further “Afghanization” of security operations.
We note with satisfaction that further progress in coordinating key Afghan security institutions is making headway, including accelerated recruitment and training of the Afghanistan National Army. It is important to stress that, although we see the military effort as an important integral part of the global solution in Afghanistan, we agree with the overall assessment that military means alone will not bring final success in the country. Carefully planed and attentively implemented national reconciliation programs, carried out under well known conditions, should, in our opinion, greatly contribute to this aim.
The new Government to be formed on the basis of generally accepted electoral results is expected to reaffirm its relationship with the international community and its own people. In that context, we share the assessment of the SG that “the level of trust a future Afghan government can build with its people will impact on the level of the support that Governments of donor and troop-contributing countries receive from their constituencies for continued support to the effort of the Afghan government”.
It is important that the new government agenda addresses the main concerns of the Afghan population, especially security, the rule of law, fight against corruption and culture of impunity, as well as capacity building. Similarly, in the economic sector, the Government must develop a clear set of priorities, with particular emphasis on Afghanistan's main potentials - agriculture, mineral resources and human development.
It is encouraging to learn that the process of priority setting and donor alignments within the JCMB has significantly improved. Furthermore, Croatia is encouraged by reports of enhanced donor coordination and their increased readiness to adjust resources in order to support well formulated high-impact projects and policies that can bring considerable improvements, not only in post combat areas, but also in stable areas open to insurgents.
Having in mind the importance and magnitude of the tasks assigned to UNAMA, Croatia strongly supports the further strengthening of UNAMA as well as calls for additional resource.
Finally, Croatia finds the developed benchmarks drawn from the UNAMA mandate a useful tool for the Council to follow the progress toward the objectives it set for Afghanistan and hopes that it will further contribute to the fulfillment of the UNAMA's tasks and responsibilities.
Thank you.
Press releases
