Page 3 - Empowerment and Protection - Afghanistan

AFGHANISTAN
Background
In response to terrorist attacks on the united states on
september 11, 2001, an international coalition led by the united
states militarily intervened in Afghanistan in 2001 to oust
the ruling taliban government which hosted al-Qaeda leader
osama bin Laden. following the fall of the taliban, the united
nations (un) convened prominent Afghan political and ethnic
factions at the Bonn conference of 2001 in order to establish an
interim Afghan administration and roadmap for a future Afghan
government. the Bonn Agreement requested an international
force to ensure peace and stability in the country, and designated
a role for the un to aid the new government with the country’s
reconstruction. the un subsequently established the International
RLD BANK 2014A)
security Assistance force (IsAf), ultimately led by nAto, and the
un Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (unAMA) to assist with
the political transition. In the ensuing decade, the role of the
reconstruction agenda.
Efforts to bring military security and stability to Afghanistan were coupled with development projects, meant to establish better governance
and win the support of local populations. ISAF engaged with tribal elders, religious figures, technocrats, powerbrokers and members of the warring factions to achieve its mission. Though the international effort envisioned social, economic and institutional infrastructure developments
as a means to win popular support for and strengthen the central government in Kabul, the central government’s legitimacy was never fully consolidated.
The militarised and political logic of the international intervention lacked the conceptual underpinning of human security, which could have bound the social, economic and institutional changes to the priorities of the Afghan people. As a result, much of the progress toward establishing human security – through good governance, human rights, economic opportunities, education, healthcare and information – has been limited. Yet despite the ongoing conflict, rampant corruption, inadequate state institutions, and widespread poverty that continue to plague Afghans, many citizens believe that progress has been made since 2001.
16 storIes of HuMAn securIty | AfgHAniStAn HUMAN DEVELOPMENT
INDEX 2013
international community expanded to include a comprehensive
=10.000.000
fffShifts in power: the rise of the taliban
and the mujahedeen
Prior to 2001, decades of violence had left millions dead and displaced, devastating the social fabric
of Afghan society. Occupation by the former
Union Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) in the
late 1970s and 1980s, and the imposition of a communist government, fuelled an insurgency of the mujahedeen which was backed by the United States in its efforts to limit Soviet influence in the region. In 1989, the USSR withdrew its forces from Afghanistan and in 1992, the communist regime collapsed. Internal struggle broke out between various mujahedeen factions and Afghanistan descended into civil war and chaos.1 The Taliban, composed of the more radical mujahedeen groups from the tribal Pashtun areas and fresh recruits from Afghan refugee camps in Pakistan, had a meteoric rise and came to power in 1996. Although many initially supported the Taliban for the sake of stability, the regime failed to provide social services and basic governmental functions. The situation was particularly abusive to women, who were stripped of virtually all rights and subjected to extreme punishments for violation of strict laws.2
The militarised and political logic of the international intervention lacked the conceptual underpinning of human security.
governance structures after 2001
Though the Taliban initially retreated in the wake of the US-led intervention in 2001, it re-emerged
in 2005. Over the past few years, the Taliban have conducted hundreds of suicide bombings meant
to drive anti-Taliban forces out of Afghanistan, and have reinvigorated its imposition of strict Islamic law. The Taliban have the support of a significant number of Afghans. In a survey conducted in 2013,
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