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UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs |
AFGHANISTAN: Year in Review 2005 - Fragile progress, insecurity remains
KABUL, 11 Jan 2006 (IRIN) - There was some significant political progress in Afghanistan in 2005, the highlight being parliamentary elections on 18 September that resulted in the formation of the country’s first democratically elected legislature in more than three decades.
The historic poll passed off largely peacefully and marked an important milestone in the country's transition from decades of brutal war and internal conflict, to a stable, democratic country where human rights are respected.
Despite constant threats from remnants of the ousted Taliban militia, of the country's 12.5 million registered voters, some 6.8 million Afghans took part in the polls to elect a national legislature and 34 provincial councils for a five-year term.
Insecurity remained a key feature in Afghanistan in 2005. Although the country continued to receive strong donor support, humanitarian aid and reconstruction work remained hampered by poor security, particularly in the south and east. Despite the deployment of some 20,000 US troops in the country, along with the presence of an international protection force, largely confined to the capital, 2005 was the bloodiest since the end of the Taliban in late 2001.
At least 1,600 people died in conflict-related violence last year. Ninety-one US troops died in combat and through accidents in 2005, more than double the total for the previous year.
Violence blamed on Taliban militia and other insurgent groups has left many southern and eastern parts of Afghanistan off-limits to aid workers, government officials and police.
In 2005, 31 aid workers were killed in different parts of the country, while during 2004 only 24 aid workers were killed, according to the Afghanistan NGO Safety Office (ANSO).
The plight of returned refugees remained a concern in 2005. A high proportion of the more than 3.5 million Afghans who have returned home from Pakistan and Iran since the collapse of the Taliban regime in late 2001 are suffering from lack of shelter, unemployment and poor medical facilities.
“For the sustainability of return to be possible, our work with refugees still staying in Pakistan and Iran has shown us very clearly that the major concern, paradoxically, is not security, but livelihoods,” Antonio Guterres, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees told reporters in November at a press conference, in the capital, Kabul.
During 2005, a total of 520,100 Afghans returned home with office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) assistance, the majority, 453,000, came from Pakistan, according to the refugee agency.
Despite large numbers returning, many Afghans remain in neighbouring countries. An official census of Afghans living in Pakistan, conducted in 2005, showed that some 3 million remain in the country – or triple the number remaining in Iran, which is estimated to be around 900,000, according to UNHCR.
The country's economy also continues to rely heavily on the trade in illicit drugs - a threat NATO's top operational commander, US Gen James Jones, has suggested is more serious than the ongoing Taliban insurgency. The UN and the government have estimated the total export value of Afghanistan's opium in 2005 at US $2.7 billion - equivalent to 52 percent of the country's official gross domestic product.
The government is well aware of the threat but has requested increased international support to deal with the menace. ”Opium production prevents our economic growth and feeds only the enemies of our country,” President Hamid Karzai told the first gathering of the national assembly in December.
The trade is inevitably leading to an increase in intravenous drug users. The first UN-government joint nationwide study of drugs users in Afghanistan, released in November, showed there were 920,000 drug users, or 3.8 percent of the population.
“While the situation regarding drug addiction is not yet a catastrophe, this data clearly shows that there is reason for concern,” the UN Office on Drugs and Crime commented. “It also shows that a country which produces drugs, in the long run this also translates to drug addiction.”
Strides were made in education last year. According to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), around 5 million children were studying in schools during 2005, an increase of over a million on 2004. The enrollment of girls also increased in the same period, the UN agency noted.
Despite collecting thousands of small arms from ex-combatants across the country, observers believe that a substantial number of warlords and illegal militias were still holding large stocks of weapons that remained a threat to Afghanistan’s fragile development. Authorities estimate between 1,800 and 2,000 illegal armed groups are still active across the country.
By the end of the year, 60,646 former combatants had been disarmed and reintegrated by the UN-backed Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegrated (DDR) programme, which was launched on 24 October 2003. The programme also collected about 35,000 light and medium weapons and 11,000 heavy weapons.
The human rights picture in 2005 was very mixed. The Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) pointed to many more girls going to school and significant participation of women in the landmark parliamentary polls as two of the highlights. But the commission cautioned that very serious violations of human rights continued in the country. AIHRC received 2,698 human rights complaints and heard about 4,236 different human rights violations during 2005.
“The lack of security is undermining attempts to improve human rights and human security and is fuelling child trafficking, land grabbing, torture by police and extra-judicial killings.” said AIHRC chairwoman Dr Sima Samar.
During 2005 at least 100 women set fire to themselves to escape family problems and forced marriages, according to AIHRC. Around 80 cases of forced marriages and 199 cases of physical torture and beating had also been registered during 2005, the Afghan rights watchdog noted.
The Year Ahead
Regional observers say that the humanitarian situation will likely remain broadly the same in 2006, with strong ongoing donor support but with aid and reconstruction hostage to poor security. "Without long-term military, economic and political support, the Afghan government cannot by itself get rid of insecurity, opium production and widespread corruption,” Qasim Akhgar, a local analyst said.
International and local efforts to return internally displaced persons (IDPs) to their place of origin will continue, although lack of infrastructure in rural areas will remain a key challenge for the government and aid agencies.
All the signs indicate that efforts to reduce the massive growth in the cultivation and trade in opium will have little impact. Observers point to the length of time counter-narcotics measures took to have an impact in countries like Pakistan and Thailand and suggest Afghanistan, with a far worse problem, will continue to be a leading world heroin producer in 2006 and for some years beyond.
Although the national assembly election was a success, prospects for Kabul to extend its authority to the provinces and take on the powerful warlords, growing richer on the proceeds of the lucrative opium trade, do not look hopeful.
[ENDS]
This material comes to you via IRIN, a UN humanitarian information unit, but May not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations or its agencies. If you re-print, copy, archive or re-post this item, please retain this credit and disclaimer. Quotations or extracts should include attribution to the original sources. All materials copyright © UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs 2006
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