(IPS) feature

Two papers released in the run-up to the UN-chaired conference on Afghanistan last Tuesday on the Petersberg Hill near Bonn, have urged the world body to play a 'strong' role in the war-torn country.

The conference, scheduled to take place yesterday, has been postponed in order to give participants enough time to travel to Germany.

In a report made available to IPS , the Oxfam International said last Friday: "A strong UN role is vital to keep open the space so that all Afghans, and not just the armed factions, can be full participants in planning their future in 2002 and 2003."

Ultimate responsibility

"The ultimate responsibility for their future rests with Afghanistan's people. The international community has a responsibility to allow them to do so," adds the organisation that has worked in Afghanistan since 1989 and also operates in neighbouring Pakistan, Iran, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan.

According to Oxfam, on November 20, armed men had stopped food convoys travelling from Kabul to Bamyan in the central highlands, as they tried to extort 'taxes'.

The report warns that violence, intimidation and obstacles to aid will only get worse unless the international community demonstrates that it can restore law and order and facilitate a transition to stable government representing all Afghans.

"That demands a much stronger role for the UN in Afghanistan in the crucial next few weeks and months. It urgently requires a UN-authorised security force. But it also requires the UN to lead Afghanistan's immediate administration until the voice of all Afghans can be heard," says the Oxfam report.

The relief organisation is distributing food in Afghanistan to people who have been displaced by the crisis. Working through both Afghan staff and partners, Oxfam also carries out a range of activities including providing safe water and sanitation, health care, trauma counselling, rural development and advocating for women's rights.

In a separate report, Germany's Friedrich Ebert Foundation says: "Only a comprehensive UN mandate and a long-term international commitment can effect a lasting political solution for Afghanistan."

The author, Almut Wieland-Karimi, says the UN should - similarly to East Timor - temporarily take over the administration and the functions of the government while supporting existing administrative structures.

Constitution

"The UN could help draw up a constitution for Afghanistan, possibly using the democratically oriented constitution of 1964 as an important basis, and providing assistance in preparing for elections," writes Wieland-Karami.

Together with the political players in Afghanistan, the UN administration could also take up the task to set up or to commission a reconstruction plan and - as a next step - to coordinate it at an international level.

The report by the Friedrich Ebert Foundation - that is close to German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder's Social Democratic Party (SPD) - also stresses Germany's special role.

"Germany enjoys a high reputation in Afghanistan and has the confidence of all sections of the society. It is not burdened by a colonial past in the region."

In the 70's and 80's, Germany's close relations with Afghanistan were considered showpiece of successful bilateral development cooperation. A witness to this was the province of Paktia in the south of Kabul that was developed by means of a master plan.

University twinning programmes fostered a lively scientific exchange. Until today, German non-governmental organisations have been supporting small development projects in Afghanistan.

"Against this background, Germany could take up a prominent role within the framework of its international involvement as mediator between the competing interests," says Wieland-Karimi.

Democratic values

She adds: "Taking into account the objective of bringing in democratic values to a greater extent into the process of conflict resolution and of expanding the basis of Afghan interests, democratic groupings should be given special support."

A specifically German contribution, according to the study, should be to support the democratic movement in Afghanistan and abroad among Afghan exiles, within the framework of a process of international discussion and consultation.

This would include the participation of the Afghan democratic movement in international negotiations, which up to now have been dominated on the Afghan side by the king and the Northern Alliance as a consequence of international support.

The report also considers it important to pass on the message to the Afghan people that in the search for a political solution hopes are not only placed in the king and the warring factions but that they themselves will also have the opportunity to become actively involved.

"Well-directed support of local and regional political-administrative structures or civilian forces as well as a community building programme would be an important starting point to achieve this," says the report.

It adds: "These measures could be implemented within the framework of well-tried German institutions and tools in the field of development cooperation."

The report proposes a repatriation programme for more than 80,000 Afghans living in exile in Germany. A large number of them are well-trained and could play a significant role in the reconstruction of Afghanistan, backed by the German Agency for Technical Cooperation (GTZ).

The German government has allocated some US$80 million for the reconstruction of Afghanistan - and tasked the GTZ with working on blueprints, as a first step towards getting down to the brass-tacks.

The government owned GTZ, based in Eschborn near Frankfurt, has gathered vast experience in developing and carrying out projects around the world - not only in Africa, Asia, the Caribbean and Latin America, but also in central Europe and the Central Asian republics of the former Soviet Union, which border on Afghanistan.