11 January 2002
U.S. Prepares Long-Term Afghan Reconstruction Effort
(USAID chief says assistance must go beyond immediate relief) (530)
By Stephen Kaufman
Washington File Staff Writer
Washington -- Andrew Natsios, the Administrator of the U.S. Agency for
International Development (USAID), said the United States planned to
stay involved in Afghan reconstruction efforts "for some time to
come."
"There has never been a long debate or any serious discussion about us
not doing this work and participating with the rest of the
international community in reconstruction," said Natsios.
Speaking January 11 at the Asia Society in Washington, Natsios
outlined the approach and principles of U.S. humanitarian and
developmental assistance to Afghanistan, and which projects were of
the highest priority. He cited the need to focus on long-term
reconstruction projects once the need for humanitarian relief had
subsided.
"The sooner you start reconstruction the better off you are. We have
learned that carrying on relief efforts for too long can be
destructive towards long-term development. People can become dependent
upon food assistance and other kinds of assistance ... the sooner we
get out of pure relief, the better Afghanistan will be," Natsios said.
Natsios cited the re-establishment of schools as a particularly
crucial project because it has multiple advantages beyond the obvious
educational benefit.
He pointed out that prior to the Taliban regime, two-thirds of all
schoolteachers were women. After women were barred from working, the
educational system had essentially disintegrated. Re-opening the
schools would lead to the re-employment of the women teachers, and
contribute to their rehabilitation into Afghan society.
Re-establishing schools would also take the children off the streets
where they could be targeted for recruitment into militias, or
potentially cause trouble as vagrants, Natsios said.
Natsios highlighted his concern that the past twenty years of conflict
had caused tremendous emotional trauma for the children, some of whom
witnessed horrific atrocities committed against family members. School
attendance, Natsios said, would create an environment of discipline
and order, which would allow them to focus beyond their trauma.
Otherwise "the desire for revenge will be destabilizing," said
Natsios.
Natsios said that a principle governing U.S. assistance was the idea
that the all reconstruction efforts would be primarily approved and
performed by the Afghans themselves.
"There has to be an Afghan 'buy-in' to the process of reconstruction
at the beginning. It has to be their program. It has to be their plan.
It has to be their reconstruction, because it's their country. And if
the program is going to be successful, the Afghan people and the
Afghan elites have to accept it," said Natsios.
Natsios outlined the major projects USAID hoped to see accomplished in
the short term: the resettlement of internally displaced persons and
repatriation of refugees; assuring the security of food resources;
re-establishing political stability in Afghanistan; and rebuilding a
market economy in order to promote the growth of a middle class.
Natsios indicated he would leave Washington January 11 for a trip to
Pakistan and Afghanistan. His visit coincided with the departure of
teams from USAID who were going to the region in order to assist with
the projects he had outlined.
(The Washington File is a product of the Office of International
Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site:
http://usinfo.state.gov)
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