Empowerment and Protection - Stories of Human Security Oct. 2014

COSTS OF CONFLICT AFGHANISTAN CIVILIANS KILLED RLD 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 Security Assistance Force (ISAF), ultimately led by NATO, and the BANK 2014A) UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) to assist with the political transition. In the ensuing decade, the role of the international community expanded to include a comprehensive =10.000.000 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. HUMAN DEVELOPMENT 16 stories of Human Security | afghanistan NUMBER

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