Positive news from Afghanistan

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Good news about Afghanistan​

After moving to the United States, Abdullah Qazi got so sick of seeing his country in the headlines for all the wrong reasons he set up a website to spread good news.

Stories about war, fallen soldiers, suicide bombs, drug traffickers, kidnappings, acid attacks on schoolgirls - bad news had dominated since the 2001 US-led invasion overthrew the Taliban regime.
So he set up Good Afghan News to fill the gap.

"Sure, you find sprinkles of good news here and there," said Qazi by email from his home in northern California.
"But they don't get the attention (they) need because they are usually in the same newspaper that's carrying three or four other articles telling people how bad things are in Afghanistan," he said.
And he's right - there are some good news stories in Afghanistan.
Billions of aid dollars pumped into Afghanistan since 2001 have helped build roads, power stations, irrigation systems and hospitals across the country.
Millions of children, including girls, are now going to school.
Preventable diseases such as polio are being dealt with, thousands of clinics have been set up to provide much-needed health care in rural areas and despite enduring problems of corruption, millions of people vote in elections.
But alongside the aid efforts, 121,000 US and Nato troops are stationed in the country - soon to rise to 150,000 - to fight a Taliban insurgency.
Many of these troops are helping to train the Afghan army and police to ensure Western nations can start pulling out their own troops in about 18 months, as their presence in Afghanistan is increasingly unpopular both among Afghans and in their home countries.
A massive offensive against Taliban insurgents and their drug-trafficking cohorts in the southern province of Helmand has compounded the constant drumbeat of bad news.
Operation Mushtarak has displaced thousands of families, and commanders say it could be weeks before the militants are pushed out and the booby-trap bombs they have left behind are cleared.
Nato mistakes are racking up a growing toll of civilians across the country, as well as intensifying Afghan public anger about the foreign military presence.
These factors overshadow anything good that might happen, from exports of apples to fantastic international success in cricket which has seen the national team qualify for the World Twenty20 finals.
That's where http://www.goodafghannews.com comes in, said Qazi.
To make sure his message gets across, he illustrates his site with a smiley face wearing a traditional Afghan turban.
"This site is different in that we only focus on the good news. If it is bad news we pass, because there are already enough sources for that kind of news," Qazi said.
The tone of the website is upbeat, the headlines sprinkled with plenty of exclamation marks along with photos of sports heroes, happy children and hard-working men digging irrigation channels and tending cash crops other than opium poppies.
Unsavoury topics such as human rights abuses are dealt with in a positive light - for instance, falls in violence against women and child abuse.
"How sweet it is! It's an exciting day for Afghan sports fans all over the world," reads a headline about Afghanistan's basketball team at the recent 2010 South Asian Games in Bangladesh, where Afghan athletes won five gold medals.
"More Afghans now with access to electricity," reads another headline on a long report about two small power plants in a remote northern Afghan village.
Another article goes into detail about a girls' school in western Herat province being funded and built by foreign troops.
"The school includes 10 classrooms, six administrative rooms and a sports gymnasium. The school will accommodate the needs of 600 students," it says, reminding readers that between 1996 and 2001 the Taliban regime banned girls from attending school.
In the few months since Qazi started Good Afghan News with the slogan "Afghan news that will make you happy," he has registered thousands of hits from Afghans, he said.
"I could easily see thousands visiting the site every day. Everyone I tell about the site loves the idea and tells me they will spread the word," he said.
But the best news from Afghanistan, he said, has yet to come.
"My biggest wish? I would like to see a permanent peace in Afghanistan."

 

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A Successful Afghan Woman: General Khatool Mohammadzai​

General Khatool Mohammadzai is Afghanistan's first ever female paratrooper, and she is currently, the most senior female officer in the Afghan National Army. She has been in the Afghan Army for 26 years, and through out all these years, she's made more than 500 parachute jumps.

See video below about General Khatool Mohammadzai:

 

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Another step towards Afghan self sufficiency: Sewing shop puts Afghans to work supporting the National Army​

 

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Shukria Asil and Shafiqa Quraishi of Afghanistan at the the 2010 International Women of Courage Awards event​

US First Lady Michelle Obama and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton present the 2010 International Women of Courage Award to Colonel Shafiqa Quraishi of Afghanistan.

See video of the event:

[video]http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid1705667530?bctid=71237179001[/video]

 

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Shukria Asil, Afghanistan:2010 International Women of Courage Award Winner​

March 1, 2010

Ms. Asil serves as one of four female members of the Baghlan Provincial Council. Her work advocates for increased accountability and responsiveness of the government to women's needs. Her portfolio includes issues that have no other advocate, such as the rights of the mentally disabled, and her approach draws upon innovative tools and ideas, such as starting a networking group for professional women, or pushing to launch a driving school for women. She has promoted women in media, created links between remote communities and their provincial government, and worked to advance educational opportunities for young girls.

Ms. Asil has chosen a public and dangerous role in her dedication to fighting injustice. In one particular case last year, Ms. Asil challenged the Ministry of Education after it published negative information in the media about three female teachers in Baghlan Province, resulting in the firing of those individuals. Ms. Asil successfully reversed their dismissal. In another instance, Ms. Asil intervened in a case in which a girl had been gang-raped and rejected by her family, managing to eventually reconcile and reunite the family, despite being directly discouraged by the provincial governor from doing so.

Ms. Asil has forged ahead with her exceptional work despite threats of kidnapping and death. Even in the face of urging from the police and security forces to cease her work for her own safety, she continues to risk her life to work for what she believes in.

 

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Colonel Shafiqa Quraishi, Afghanistan: 2010 International Women of Courage Award Winner​

March 1, 2010

Colonel Shafiqa Quraishi is the Director of Gender, Human, and Child Rights within the Ministry of the Interior. She began her career in the Afghan National Police.

As Director of Gender, Human, and Child Rights, Colonel Shafiqa created and led a working group on Afghan National Gender Recruitment Strategy, with the goal of increasing the number of women working in the Ministry of the Interior to 5,000 and of improving the quality of the Ministry's service to the women and of Afghanistan. Beyond recruiting women, she's worked toward securing benefits and incentives to increase the number of women in the workforce, including childcare, healthcare, maternity care, security, and skills training.

Colonel Shafiqa has succeeded in securing promotions for women working in the Afghan National Police who had been unfairly passed over for advancement for years. She works in close partnership with those responsible for training the police force, and works to raise public awareness of gender rights and the important role that women can hold as police officers.

 

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Kabul Education University Graduates First Class of Master's Degree Students​

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 10, 2010
Contact: Steven Susens
Phone: +93 (0) 799-794-674
Email: [email protected]


Kabul, Afghanistan, March 10 – A group of 22 Kabul Education University (KEU) students walked across the university's stage today in front of a packed auditorium at the university campus to become the first KEU students to receive an Afghan Master's in Education diploma.
The ceremony marked the beginning of a successful U.S. Government-funded post-graduate program at the university, which will enable KEU students to earn a Master's in Education Degree from KEU without leaving Afghanistan.
A group of 19 other KEU post-graduate students were also honored for recently receiving their Master's in Education Degrees from two universities in the United States- Indiana University and the University of Massachusetts.
The Deputy Minister of Higher Education, Professor Mohammad Osman Babury, and
U.S. Ambassador Karl Eikenberry, presented the diplomas to the students during the ceremony. Deputy Minister Babury underscored the importance of having a program that reaches all of the universities nationwide.
"The Afghan Master's in Education is the best program so far in the country because it is conceived by Afghans, the curriculum was designed with Afghans in mind and it is delivered in Dari," Deputy Minister Barbury said. "The program is relevant because it matches the long-term goals of Afghanistan and the Ministry of Higher Education considers it sustainable."
Ambassador Eikenberry congratulated all the students, and stressed the importance of having the new graduates use their educational skills teaching students majoring in education at universities throughout Afghanistan.
"The Master's of Education program is a key element in building the capacity of Afghanistan's education system and the overall development of the country," Ambassador Eikenberry said.

 

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A Big Week For Education In Afghanistan​

Afghanistan's Minister of Education, Faruq Wardak (center), with Japanese officials
On Tuesday, the Japanese government provided Afghanistan's Ministry of Education with US$ 19.5 Million to promote literacy, particularly in rural villages.

The ministry will spend the money across 15 different provinces and they say some 300,000 illiterate Afghans will be taught how to read.

Today, local radio is reporting that Ghazni officials have announced the reopening of many girls' schools in the province. The officials have said that some 20,000 girls will return to school, and that there are plans to build 25 more schools to educate girls in Afghanistan.

Many Afghan officials believe that in order for Afghanistan's democracy to survive, and for Afghans to be able to independently and fully self-govern, the population must be educated – both men and women.

 

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Afghanistan's Mustafa Zahir Wins Major Environmental Leadership Award​

Mustafa Zahir
Today, in Seoul, South Korea, Mustafa Zahir, who serves as the Director General of the National Environmental Protection Agency of Afghanistan, and 5 other individuals from around the world were given the 2010 Champions of the Earth Award by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). Mustafa Zahir is also the grandson of Afghanistan's last king, Mohammad Zahir. The Champions of the Earth Award was established in 2004, and is given to people who embody commitment and vision towards environmental leadership through their actions and their influence. Past winners include former U.S. Vice President and environmentalist, Al Gore. The award recognizes achievements in areas of: Entrepreneurial Vision, Policy and Leadership, Science and Innovation, Inspiration and Action, and a special category for 2010, Biodiversity and Ecosystems Management. Mustafa Zahir won in the Inspiration and Action category. More than 100 nominations were submitted from around the world, and from that 6 winners were chosen.

Achim Steiner, UN Under-Secretary-General and UN Environment Programme (UNEP) Executive Director, told the audience that Mustafa Zahir won because: "Prince Zahir has transformed environmental policy and laid the foundation for sustainability in one of the most challenging countries on the planet at this moment in history. He has balanced the day-to-day realities of Afghanistan with a determination that his country will have clean air and healthy water-backed by laws- upon which a sustainable and peaceful society can be built."

The awards were presented as part of the 4th annual Business for Environment (B4E) Global Summit in Seoul. The aim of the B4E is to foster dialogue and business-driven action towards a global Green Economy. Topics such as resource efficiency, renewable energies, new business models and climate policy and strategies are discussed.

 

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Good News From Afghanistan​

By Sara Tucker
The National Museum in Kabul, which has lost 70 percent of its 100,000-piece collection through plundering, celebrated a historic turnaround this week when it unveiled stolen artifacts repatriated by British authorities. The returned artifacts were confiscated at Heathrow Airport during random searches over a period of six years.
The moment was huge for a country devastated by war and robbed of so much of its cultural heritage. "The 3.5 ton trove of [returned] artifacts was described as priceless by the museum director and includes stone tools dating back 10,000 years," reported the Telegraph. "Among the greatest treasures are a bronze peacock-shaped brazier dating from the 12th century and a 100-year-old carved, wooden pen box filled with Persian poems and curses. . . .At least half the returned collection is dated back to before Afghanistan's Islamic period which began in the seventh century."
Besides the value of the returned objects, there is the significance of the opening itself: "For more than a decade, the museum here in the Afghan capital has been a symbol of the country's grievous suffering," observed LA Times staff writer Henry Chu in 2007. "Once a repository of one of the world's most valuable collections of Central Asian artifacts, it turned into a building full of broken hopes and dreams, its shell shattered by civil war, its guts ripped out by the radically religious Taliban." At the time Chu's article was published, the museum had begun to welcome home cultural treasures held in safekeeping by other countries, but it was still "struggling to get back on its feet," and "virtually all of those objects remain squirreled away in boxes, awaiting proper treatment and someplace to put them on show."
Tuesday's opening didn't escape criticism ("premature and naïve," huffed a HuffPo reader), but the overriding sentiment was positive and easily summarized in two words: "It's time."

 

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May 15, 2010: US based Afghan Soccer League score updates

As reported earlier this month, the US based amateur Afghan Soccer League games are currently under way. 6 teams are participating in the competitions: Ariana, Khorasan, Afghan 11, Pamir, Afghanica, and Afghan United.

Here are the latest scores:

April 27th - Afghanica and Pamir tie 2-2
April 29th - Ariana beats Afghan 11 2-1
May 4th - Khorasan beats Pamir 2-1

For earlier game scores, see report from April 27th below.

The final championship game is scheduled for June 22, 2010.

 

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Afghanistan's good news: seeds of economic progress​

By Karl F. Inderfurth / September 29, 2006

WASHINGTON
Afghanistan has experienced little good news of late. The Taliban and its extremist allies have made a powerful comeback, especially in the southern part of the country. Violence is four times more intense than in 2005. Tactics used by Iraqi insurgents, including roadside explosives and suicide bombings, have migrated to Afghanistan.

Afghanistan's opium harvest has reached the highest levels ever recorded, showing a 50 percent increase over last year and providing 92 percent of the world's supply. Drug proceeds are supporting the Taliban and helping to fuel the growing insurgency.

Deteriorating security has set back Afghanistan's development efforts. Aid and reconstruction workers are targeted; immunization programs have been halted; scores of Afghan schools have been threatened or torched, leaving more than 200,000 children without access to education.

Hidden in the bad news, however, are the seeds of Afghanistan's future success: economic progress. Afghan president Hamid Karzai, who was in Washington this week and met twice with President Bush, remains relentlessly optimistic about his country's prospects and says these negative trends can be arrested.

The Coca-Cola effect
Earlier this month Mr. Karzai presided over the opening of a $25 million Coca-Cola plant in a new industrial park on the edge of Kabul. It is the first large factory to open in the country since US-led military forces toppled the Taliban in late 2001. The bottling plant, the project of an Afghan businessman, will provide 350 badly needed jobs.

Responding to the deteriorating security situation and countering the exploding drug trade get the lion's share of attention today. But many in the international community suggest that economic development that leads to jobs and the prospect for better lives is the real key to Afghanistan's long-term stability and the best way to marginalize the Taliban, regional warlords, and drug traffickers.

Among those who share this view is Gen. John Abizaid, head of the US Central Command: "It's important that the international community stays focused militarily, but also ups the ante with regard to economic reconstruction.... When there is economic progress, security also moves in a positive direction."

In the first instance, upping the ante for economic reconstruction means more resources for the expansion of electricity (only 6 percent of Afghans have electricity), major water projects to improve agriculture productivity, development of the infrastructure for mineral extraction (copper, iron, marble, and coal), and accelerated road building. "Wherever the road ends," says Lt. Gen. Karl Eikenberry, the American military commander in Afghanistan, "that's where the Taliban starts."

Unfortunately, from the outset, the United States and the international community underfunded the rebuilding effort in Afghanistan. Despite being the world's main front in the "war on terror," Afghanistan has never received the investment of resources needed to stabilize it, and it has been given far less in reconstruction assistance from world donors than other recent postconflict areas, including Iraq, Kosovo, and Bosnia. "The international effort to rebuild Afghanistan is in a desperate state," says the Sept. 9 issue of The Economist.According to World Bank estimates, Afghanistan needs a minimum of $4 billion a year in aid to implement the comprehensive state building and reform plan (including counternarcotics) agreed to at the London Conference on Afghanistan in January, attended by more than 60 countries and international organizations.

The US should make a commitment to provide half that amount during the next five years with the second half provided by our European, Japanese, and other partners.

But economic progress in Afghanistan goes beyond reconstruction and development aid. It also means greater efforts to promote economic progress through trade and investment. Fortunately, Coca-Cola is not alone in taking on both the challenges and opportunities that exist in Afghanistan.

MCT is a US corporation that owns part of Roshan, the largest telecommunications firm in Afghanistan. Roshan just made another $60 million investment to expand its operations in the country. Roshan has been operating there for three years, demonstrating that companies with a long-term commitment in Afghanistan are making profits.

From cars to butter: new markets
Ford Motor Co. has identified Afghanistan as a new market opportunity and is seeking local companies for a Ford distributorship. 3M corporation has selected exporters to distribute its products in Afghanistan. Boeing has entered into a partnership with Ariana, Afghanistan's national airline. Land O'Lakes dairy company is at work training in the agricultural sector.

During his visit to Washington, Karzai met with a group of leading US CEOs. In Kabul, the Afghanistan Investment Support Agency has been set up as a one-stop-shop for the promotion, registration, and licensing of new investments – making Afghanistan, according to a 2005 World Bank survey, one of the world's leaders in the speed needed for business ventures to get started.

Next month, the Afghan government will sponsor its second annual business promotion road show in the US and Canada.

There will be visits to Des Moines, Iowa, to talk about agroprocessing; to Los Angeles to explore information-technology (IT) and telecommunication ventures; to Toronto for exchanges on energy and mining; and to New York to see what's possible in the construction, finance, and insurance sectors.

The road show will be kicked off with a business matchmaking conference in Washington, sponsored by the Afghan-American Chamber of Commerce, bringing companies and financial and government contacts together.

By working with local companies, says the Afghan government, American investors, "can both contribute to the overall economic prosperity of Afghanistan and enjoy opportunities to profit from this emerging market." They will also be investing in a stable, prosperous, and democratic Afghanistan – and the long-term national security interests of the United States.

"¢ Karl F. Inderfurth, assistant secretary of state for South Asian affairs from 1997 to 2001, is a professor at the Elliott School of International Affairs at George Washington University.

 

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Allama Iqbal Faculty of Arts Kabul University​

Under construction Jinnah Hospital in Kabul​

Liaqat Ali Khan Engineering Faculty Block at Mizar-e-Sharef​

Pak to construct Rs 1.2b hospital in Afghanistan


ISLAMABAD (APP) - The Government of Pakistan will construct Jinnah Hospital in Kabul at an estimated cost of Rs 1200 million, which would have all the modern health facilities.

A contract signing ceremony was held here Tuesday between the Governments of Pakistan and Afghanistan. Commander National Logistic Cell, Brigadier Nisar Ahmed Mir and Brigadier (Retd) Anjum Saeed on the part of Planning and Development Division signed the agreement.

First Secretary Embassy of Afghanistan, Syed Maluk Fakhar was also present on the occasion. Senior Joint Secretary Planning and Development Division Raja Atta Mohammad on this occasion gave details of the project.

He said Pakistan has already committed an amount of US $300 million for the reconstruction and rehabilitation of Afghanistan.

He told that the planned three-storey hospital would have a capacity of 200 beds with further space available for its expansion to 400 beds.

For this purpose, 25 acres of land has been made available by the Government of Afghanistan, he added.

He said it would comprise 50-bed Thalassemia centre, dialysis centre,surgical wards, besides others facilities.

He said the design of the hospital has been prepared by M/S NESPAK in consultation with Ministry of Health, Afghanistan.

Contract for construction has been awarded to National Logistic Cell, which is also constructing Allama Iqbal Faculty Block at Kabul University, Sir Syed Post Graduate Science Faculty Block in Nangarhar University, Jalalabad, Liaquat Ali Khan Engineering Faculty Block in Bulkh University, Mazar-e-Sharif and Nishtar Kidney Centre, Jalalabad, he added.

Raja Atta said that after completion, all the necessary equipment will be supplied by the government of Pakistan.

About other projects, the Senior Joint Secretary said "Nishtar Kidney Health Centre, Jalalabad is under construction while general hospital at Logar and Fatima Jinnah Nuclear Medicine Centre in Kabul are in the pipeline."

Besides, Pakistan committed to construct a 100-bed eye hospital, he added.

He said Pakistan has made a donation of 100 buses, 300,000 student kit, 50,000 food packages and 9,600 tents.

About 14 Mobile Medical Units are under fabrication while Afghan officials have got training in Pakistani Institutes, he added.

Work on Chaman-Spin Boldak Railway Link will be initiated and a TV transmitter would also be supplied, he said.

First Secretary Embassy of Afghanistan Syed Maluk Fakhar lauded these efforts and said that Government of Pakistan is completing different projects especially in health sector of Afghanistan.

He said "Afghan people are thankful for government's big assistance."

Chairman PM Inspection Commission Major General Farooq Ahmed, representatives from NESPAK, Finance Division and Planning and Development Division were also present on the occasion.

 

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In Afghanistan's North, Ex-Warlord Offers Security

The shrine of Hazrat Ali, or the Blue Mosque, in Mazar-i-Sharif, Afghanistan, one of the country's more secure places.

MAZAR-I-SHARIF, Afghanistan — In a country still gripped by war, the families picnicking around the azure-domed shrine in the central square here are perhaps the clearest sign that this northern provincial city has distinguished itself as one of the most secure places in the country. An estimated one million people visited Mazar-i-Sharif for Afghan New Year celebrations in March and in the weeks after without incident.

Atta Muhammad Noor, governor of Balkh Province, is a former mujahedeen commander and an ethnic Tajik who enjoys widespread public support.

It helps, of course, that Mazar-i-Sharif and the surrounding Balkh Province lie far from the Pakistani border and the heartland of the Taliban insurgency in southern and eastern Afghanistan. But there is something else that sets Mazar-i-Sharif apart, almost everyone here agrees, and that is the leadership of the provincial governor, Atta Muhammad Noor.

Some regard Mr. Noor, 46, a former mujahedeen commander and an ethnic Tajik, as a thinly disguised warlord who still exercises an unhealthy degree of control across much of the north and who has used that influence to grow rich through business deals during his time in power since 2001.

But there is little doubt that Mr. Noor has also managed to do in his corner what President Hamid Karzai has failed to achieve in other parts of Afghanistan: bring development and security, with a good measure of public support, to regions divided by ethnic and political rivalries.

For that, Mr. Noor has slowly gained the attention and support of Western donors and become something of a study in what kind of governing, imperfect as it is, produces results in Afghanistan.

Mazar-i-Sharif lies far from the Taliban insurgency.

Since 2001, American and other Western officials have tried to buttress the central government under Mr. Karzai as a means of securing Afghanistan by weakening powerful regional warlords and bringing lucrative customs revenues into the state coffers. Mr. Karzai has installed political allies as governors around the country, yet many have failed to provide security or services and have indulged in corruption, alienating Afghans from the government at all levels.

Supporters of Mr. Noor say he has made the transition from bearded guerrilla fighter to business-suited manager. Though many presume he has used his position of power to make money, Mr. Noor speaks out against corruption and has apparently checked it enough to maintain public support. That support has enhanced security, and the security has allowed others to prosper, too, another important reason that he has maintained popular backing.

Such is his support that Mr. Noor is the one governor whom President Karzai has been unable to replace, or has chosen not to, even after Mr. Noor campaigned against him in the presidential election last year.

A skillful politician, Mr. Noor has also gained the upper hand over some formidable political rivals, solidifying his power in the region as they left to take up posts in Kabul, including even Mr. Karzai's ally, the Uzbek militia leader Abdul Rashid Dostum.

In an interview in his lavish party offices, Mr. Noor denied rumors that he takes a cut of every investment that flows through the region and said he made his money legally — he has interests in oil, wood trading, fertilizer and construction, among other things. "In legal ways, I did do a lot of work," he said. "I did my own business."

Instead, he criticized Mr. Karzai's management of the country and said the president never followed through on plans to regulate revenue collection, policing and relations between the central government and the provinces. He derided Mr. Karzai's efforts to curb corruption, saying the president should not appoint corrupt people in the first place.

Mr. Karzai had also failed to act as the Taliban insurgency spread into the north in recent years, he said.

"If we don't have the cooperation of the people, you cannot stop it," he said of the insurgency. "There has to be a deep contact between the people and the government. If officials are not embezzling or taking bribes, then definitely the people will trust the government."

Even for skeptics of Mr. Noor, the success of his approach in Mazar-i-Sharif is hard to ignore. While insurgents remain active in two districts of the province, this city has emerged as an investment haven and has become one of the largest sources of revenue in the country, according to the Finance Ministry.

Provincial leaders and businessmen attribute the improved security here to Mr. Noor's skill in maintaining good community relations and to his deep knowledge of the region's intricate patchwork of tribes and loyalties, earned during his years as a military commander in the north.

Mr. Noor joined the mujahedeen to fight the Soviet occupation at 16 and commanded hundreds of fighters against the Taliban by 2001. Today he maintains personal contacts with district, tribal and former mujahedeen leaders who cooperate on intelligence, according to an aide, Qari Qudratullah.

Mr. Noor, who is from Mazar-i-Sharif, knows everyone, including the thieves and gangsters, Nader Nadery, deputy head of the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission, said. While protecting some, Mr. Nadery added, Mr. Noor has gained popularity by catching thieves and returning stolen goods to their owners.

Dr. Muhammad Afzal Hadeed, a surgeon and the newly elected head of the provincial council, said: "He had good relations with the people, and the people are cooperating with him. These two factors made it work."

In the farming district of Balkh, west of Mazar-i-Sharif, the mainly Pashtun residents said security had vastly improved in the last five years. Businessmen, some of whom have moved from the south to invest in Mazar-i-Sharif, say they can do business here without fear of the kidnapping and extortion that plagues the capital. The governor, whose father was a fur and rug trader, is pro-business, they say.

"The first thing he did was to eliminate poppy and smuggling and attract businessmen," said Sayed Mohammad Taher Roshanzada, head of the chamber of commerce in Mazar-i-Sharif. "His slogan is, 'Make money and spend it here.' "

In Hairatan, a shabby river port on the northern border with Uzbekistan, brand new fuel storage tanks and a new railway line, Afghanistan's first, are spreading out amid the desert scrub.

The port is now the entry point for 80 percent of Afghanistan's fuel imports, including up to half of the fuel supplies for American and NATO forces, said Muhammad Ayub Ghazanfar, an ethnic Uzbek whose family business is the region's biggest importer of fuel and foodstuffs.

Much of that business has come north because of attacks on convoys through Pakistan, he added. "The only reason for Mazar's progress," he said, "is because of the security."

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/18/world/asia/18mazar.html?hpw

 

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Good news from Afghanistan
FAO dairy scheme boosts farm incomes​

Women are among the main beneficiaries.
27 April 2009, Rome – There's not so many feel-good stories coming out of Afghanistan these days, and even fewer about life getting better for women there. But FAO has one to tell.

A dairy project started by FAO in Kabul and four Afghan provinces: Logar, Wardak, Mazar and Kunduz, has proved so successful that the 1 600 farming families taking part have seen their incomes increase fivefold, from $130 to $650 a year. And as it's women who do most of the work involved, they keep 95 percent of the money.

The project started in 2003 with German funding and its success is built on a number of integrated elements such as improved fodder, access to artificial insemination or breeding bulls, improved veterinary services and better organization.

"That plus a lot of hard work," says Tony Bennett, FAO's Dairy Officer. "Starting from scratch we helped them increase their milk production to 10 000 litres a day." The approach is now known as the Integrated Dairy Schemes (IDS).

Guaranteed outlet

FAO experts showed the farmers how to organize themselves into cooperatives that collect the milk and provide veterinary and animal husbandry services for their members. The cooperatives also operate processing plants which pasteurize milk and process it into products such as yogurt, fermented milk, butter and ghee (clarified butter) and run retail counters in the main cities. Farmers thus have a guaranteed outlet for their produce.

Dairy farmers and their families are not the only ones benefiting. While many more Afghanis now have access to fresh, healthy milk products, the success of the dairy schemes has also made it much more profitable for farmers to grow fodder/seed such as lucerne, which can return profits of $900 per ha, perhaps even competing with illicit crop production.

Security problems

Although local demand for fresh milk products is high, security problems, particularly in the south of the country, limit how fast the project can grow. But last year the Italian Government came forward with $2 million to expand activities into Herat Province, and IFAD (International Fund for Agricultural Development) and the World Bank are also stepping forward with large programmes to expand the IDS project concept.

The dairy initiative is part of larger FAO efforts to help revitalize Afghanistan's war-battered agricultural economy. Says Tekeste Tekie, the local FAO Representative, "Increasing farmers' incomes from cereal crops, horticulture and dairy produce can, in the long-term, offer a viable alternative to poppy cultivation."

 

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AGA IN ACTION

Milk making the difference Dairy development in Afghanistan

Afghanistan is a traditional livestock country and was in the past self-sufficient in livestock products. Afghan consumers prefer mainly yoghurt, doogh (fermented milk drink), fresh milk, Chhaka (quarg), Paneer (soft cheese) and other dairy products. Cream is also highly appreciated, particularly in the freezing winter months. Milk and dairy products are mainly consumed in the morning and at lunchtime.
FAO started dairy development activities in Afghanistan in 1998 with the support of the Government of the United Kingdom and the United Nations Development Programme followed by the Government of Germany in 2002. The interest for the development of the dairy sector came from both consumers and producers.

The integrated dairy scheme approach
Initially the fodder resources were developed and improved to feed dairy cows.
Farmers were organized initially as milk producers groups.
Farmers, their groups and local service providers were trained in improved animal husbandry and animal health practices.
Milk producers co-operatives were then set up to formalize the enterprises and enable the groups to be more visible and trade more effectively.
At the same time milk processing and marketing centres (known as window shops) were set up in urban and peri urban areas to provide direct access to consumers.
A milk processing plant was established by an FAO project in Kabul, in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock (MAIL) and the Kabul Dairy Union.
The producer co-operatives were then organized into regional bodies as Milk Unions in Kabul, Mazar I Sharif and Kunduz and now represents over 1600 dairy farmers and their families (10400 beneficiaries).
The milk production and collection networks have grown gradually as a high level of pervading insecurity and related investment risks still affect its expansion.

The government and the development community have tasked FAO to advise and guide the development of a national dairy development policy and strategy to ensure a sustainable future with continuing benefits and participation by Afghan farmers and their families. A national dairy development committee has been established since June 2005 to formulate the national dairy policy and strategy for Afghanistan. The General Director of Livestock Production and Animal Health Dept of MAIL chairs the committee in which the new Afghan Dairy Union is also represented. FAO provides support and advice to the committee. The national policy is currently being developed through a series of stakeholder workshops and will be finalized by mid 2009.

Results
An increased level of household food security and increased income for other food at village level (Annual income of each farmer has increased from 160US$ to 545 US$ from selling surplus milk production (2003- 2007)
Women are the main beneficiaries of the project and receive over 90% of income earned from the milk produced
Increased milk availability in urban centres and increased incomes flows from urban to rural areas
At the farm level milk production per animal has more than doubled and income levels for participating farmers and their families have also risen substantially - typically each farmer now markets the surplus milk per cow and earns approx. 80 Afa (US$1.6) per animal per day for their milk as well as having the benefit of milk available to meet their household needs
The provision of a new yoghurt processing and packaging line in Kabul has also greatly improved the marketability of products for the milk co-operatives

Conclusion
The gradual but progressive approach to dairy development has been recognized as successful by independent partners and agencies and has formed the basis for future dairy development activities by other agencies in Afghanistan. The success of the project has stimulated the World Bank, the Government of Italy and the International Fund for Agricultural Development to substantially invest in dairy development in Afghanistan in collaboration with MAIL.

Challenges for the future
To increase market access and improve the image of safe, quality national products.
To improve the capacity of co-operatives to progressively contract their own service and inputs providers to meet producer demands and improved dairy enterprise operations and profits.
To progressively hand more of the strategic planning and decision making over to the dairy union management (Kabul, Mazar and Kunduz) and dairy policy development to the Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock.
To provide strategic and operational support to the Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock in dairy development activities in Afghanistan.
Face competition from dairy imports of dubious quality.
Increasing occurrence of drought and extremely harsh winter cold.
Change from socially-oriented to enterprise mode within co-operatives and unions.

 

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Afghans find modest prosperity in once-banned trade – milk​

The country's first dairy cooperative has helped farmers more than double their incomes.

Cash cow? Kabul's dairy coop is so successful that similar ventures are being opened in other cities.Mark Sappenfield/The Christian Science Monitor

KABUL, AFGHANISTAN
Zakaria Ahmadzai's dream of saving thousands of Afghans from war and poverty sounds a bit far-fetched at first. He wants to revolutionize Afghanistan's dairy industry, creating as many as 100,000 jobs. It is an ambitious plan, considering that the industry essentially did not exist seven years ago, and that back then Mr. Ahmadzai was a manual laborer earning $3 a day.

But the nascent dairy trade has made entrepreneurs of men like Ahmadzai, now head of Afghanistan's first dairy cooperative. His income has doubled since he began selling milk from his three cows – a practice once forbidden by the Taliban. Other dairy farmers' salaries have increased 10-fold since 2002 to about $545 – more than twice the average yearly income here.

To Ahmadzai, it demonstrates how – with international help – Afghans can find alternatives to opium or insurgency.

"This changes the life of our people," he says. "If they can have money easily with peace, why do they need to fight?"

The Afghan economy is growing at double-digit rates – 13.5 percent during the past year, according to the World Bank. At the same time, billions of dollars of foreign aid is pouring into the country. Yet neither the economic growth nor the aid is having a substantial impact on the lives of ordinary Afghans, 85 percent of whom make a living in agriculture.

A wide array of aid projects has targeted agriculture – from pistachio growers in the north to pomegranate farmers in the south. Some have had success, many have not – for a variety of reasons, ranging from a reluctance among aid organizations to work beyond secure compounds in Kabul to an unwillingness to embark on long-term projects.

Incomes jump fivefold

The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization's (UNFAO) dairy scheme, which began in 2001, has required no small amount of patience, persuasion, and creativity. But the result has been Ahmadzai's Kabul Dairy Union, a cooperative of 620 local farmers established in 2006 that runs its own affairs and covers its own expenses.

The project's success has been in its simplicity, says the UNFAO's Mustafa Zafar. Afghan farmers generally keep one or two cows for family use, and the goal was to teach farmers how to leverage those cows into a better life, he explains.

For Ghulam Sediq, it has worked. Like Ahmadzai, he used to make his living as a day laborer, filling trenches with sand for construction projects. The work was hard and the pay meager. "Feeding my eight children was very, very difficult," he says.

Now, with his five cows, Mr. Sediq makes $20 a day – five times what he made as a laborer. "With that, I can take care of my family easily – feeding them and buying them good clothes," he says. "And it's not a lot of work."

One of the cooperative's collectors, Mohammad Hanif, still runs a butcher shop on the side. With the extra money from selling milk from his two cows and collecting the milk from Logar Province, he built a $15,000 house – making him rich by his village's standards, he says with a wide smile. Now he wants to buy more cows.

"It's a big difference, because people are making legal money," says Khair Mohammad, an assistant at the Kabul Dairy Union.

Speaking generally, he adds: "If these farmers didn't have this, they would be growing poppy." Based on its success in Kabul, UNFAO has established two more cooperatives in the northern cities of Kunduz and Mazar-e-Sharif. The Italian Provincial Reconstruction Team in the western city of Herat is planning a fourth. From family cows to dairy coop

To get to this point has required countless conversations to build trust. The notion of an Afghan dairy farmer, curious to outsiders, was no less curious to Afghans themselves at first.

"Afghan farmers told us: 'This is not our culture,' " says Dr. Zafar.

It took a year of preliminary work to convince them. Part of this was training farmers how better to care for their cows, increasing yields. But part of it became a debate on Islamic doctrine. In 2001, the Taliban had opposed the scheme on the grounds that milk was the food of heaven and should not be sold.

Even after the Taliban left, collector Mr. Hanif remembers when farmers used to bring their milk to him hidden beneath their vests, embarrassed. Now he points to the dozens of canisters lined up on the slick white tiles of the Kabul Dairy Union's receiving dock. Eventually, logic won out.

Farmers milk their cows three times a day. Their families cannot drink all of it, meaning the rest is given to the poor or left to go sour.

"You have to throw milk away," Mr. Hanif recalls a member of the UNFAO project telling him. "Why not sell it?"

Zafar and Ahmadzai built the Kabul Dairy Union on this simple principle.

Still needed: storage, safe passage

There are numerous challenges. No farmers say they have been harassed by the Taliban for selling milk, but Taliban fighters confiscated one of the cooperative's two trucks about a month ago because it had UN license plates. The cooperative has had to rent another for $60 a day.

Perhaps a bigger problem, though, is that police at checkpoints routinely demand bribes, says Hanif. "They ask for milk, but we don't give it to them, because if you give it to them, they will start asking for more milk every day," he says, adding that they have to pay $3 to $4 instead.

Despite this, Ahmadzai has been able to build a modest operation – two rooms filled with shiny silver equipment donated by Germany that spins, whirrs, and clatters in the background, separating the raw milk into milk, yogurt, cheese, and butter.

In a country with virtually no refrigeration outside Kabul, farmers at collection points keep milk cool by draping canisters with wet rags or immersing them in pools of water.

Still, a bootstrap mentality can only take the cooperative so far, says Ahmadzai. Without cold storage at collection points, the cooperative can operate only in two neighboring provinces, Logar and Wardak. Moreover, it can make only one collection a day, cutting potential profits by two-thirds.

Ahmadzai imagines foreign donors helping to build cold-storage centers across the country. With more advanced equipment that packages milk to stay good for weeks without refrigeration, he says, Afghanistan could employ thousands of people and lessen its reliance on imports. Currently, the Kabul Dairy Union supplies less than 1 percent of the Kabul dairy market.

There are four million people in Kabul who need to purchase dairy products," he says, noting that people in the capital don't have their own cows. "We have a market."

 

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A new exhibition at Kabul Museum: October 2009​

A new exhibition at the Kabul Museum.

More than 2,000 looted artefacts, which were confiscated at London's Heathrow airport, have been returned to Afghanistan from the United Kingdom.

Museum director Omara Kham Masoudi said: "In the last three to four years, the museum of Afghanistan with the help of the Ministry of Information and Culture has been able to return 13,000 artefacts to the Kabul Museum of which 8,500 have been returned from outside the country and the rest have been seized inside Afghanistan by security bodies, and handed back to the national museum"

Photos: Fardin Waezi (UNAMA).


Kabul Museum displays rescued treasures

7 October 2009 - The Kabul Museum is celebrating a new exhibition which showcases thousands of years of Afghanistan's archaeological history.

One of the main attractions of the items on public display is that the collection is taken from more than two thousand artefacts originally looted from Afghanistan, confiscated at London's Heathrow airport and now returned home.

Most of the returned collection dates back to before Afghanistan's Islamic period which began in the seventh century.

Visitors now have the chance to view precious art pieces including a bronze peacock-shaped brazier dating from the 12th century and a 100-year-old carved wooden pen box filled with Persian poems and curses, which is regarded as one of the most precious of the returned artefacts.

These artefacts are "absolutely the bones of the Afghan people," said Mark Sedwill, the British ambassador to Afghanistan who spoke at an opening ceremony for the exhibition.

"In the last three to four years, the museum of Afghanistan with the help of the Ministry of Information and Culture, has been able to return 13,000 artefacts to the Kabul Museum of which 8,500 have been returned from outside the country and the rest have been seized inside Afghanistan by security bodies, and handed back to the national museum," said museum director Omara Khan Masoudi.

Ambassador Sedwill added that the process of returning the artefacts seemed "simple", but that the cataloguing, proper protection and transportation back to Kabul took several years.

During Afghanistan's civil war in the 1990s, some 70 per cent of artefacts were looted from the Kabul Museum whilst the remaining items left behind received little or no care.

"They need restoration and cleaning and we are working very hard on these issues," Mr Masoudi said.

So far more than 2,000 pieces which needed urgent care have been restored, according to Mr Masoudi.

Nancy Hatch Dupree, director of the Afghanistan Centre at Kabul University, who has been involved with Afghan antiquities since the 1960s, recalled that during the civil war the situation at the Kabul Museum was "zero", but now "it is capable of taking care of these objects."

"This country is so rich in artefacts. Things are being discovered everyday. But I hope there will not be too much digging until you have peace, because once you have opened a site, they will become vulnerable," she added.

By Kangying Guo, UNAMA

 

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Nancy Dupree proffers five ways to preserve Afghanistan's rich culture on "International Museum Day"​

18 May 2010 - "The country is so rich – put a shovel anywhere and you will come back with something!"

"The country" is, of course, none other than Afghanistan – the crossroads for marauding conquerors from surrounding civilizations since time immemorial.

And eternally hatching ideas on how to get Afghans themselves to appreciate – and preserve – their own rich culture is American historian Nancy Hatch Dupree for whom Kabul has been home for half a century.

In an hour-long interview with UNAMA's Spokespersons Unit for the Heritage edition of UNAMA's quarterly magazine Afghan Update, the "grandmother of Afghanistan" unveiled her latest set of proposals to stem, if not stop, the fast deterioration and/or loss of Afghanistan's rich cultural heritage.

This time, recommended are five simple ways to easily preserve at ground level the fast-disappearing heritage of her beloved adopted country.

Guarding archaeological sites – more guards, higher salaries
Asked what the Government of Afghanistan can do, Ms Dupree first pointed to the lack of guards to protect Afghanistan's several archaeological sites.

"There are so many sites – the country is so rich – put a shovel anywhere and you would come back with something!"

"Down in Gardez, they are huge sites! There are not enough police to put guards on the archaeological sites. They pay them so little so the traffickers bribe them or kill them," noted Ms Dupree.

"Number one, that's a good start," she said.

Awareness via the educational system
Second, Ms Dupree says heritage awareness and preservation just have to be made part of the educational system.

The one-time educator – having taken over the courses taught in North Carolina by her late husband, archaeologist Prof Louis Dupree – pointed out that Afghanistan's rich heritage has "never been in the education system."

"Awareness of cultural heritage is a big – long, long haul"¦" she sighed, even as she revealed that she had tried getting the Government to include heritage in the education system.

"Oh, yes. We have been talking and talking. They are revising the curriculum."

"Awareness should start from Grade I," she added as she regaled UNAMA about the books she has been producing for Afghanistan's "new literates."

Turn archaeological sites into "living sites"
Third, she recommended that instead of being "in the middle of nowhere," archaeological sites should become "part of the community – living sites."

"In their history, nobody really made a point of saying you have to preserve your heritage," noted Ms Dupree, recalling how a museum in Herat "suffered from lack of maintenance, not from looting, rocketing."

And so to her mind, communities should be set up closer and closer to the heritage sites so that the surrounding residents themselves could guard the sites as a matter of course.

Localize cultural preservation via provincial museums
Ms Dupree's fourth suggestion is the localization of cultural preservation. "I am an advocate of having provincial museums."

Earlier informing the Ministry of Culture about her localization plan, "they shook their heads" and said, 'we cannot even run the national museum!'"

"So I said, let the people man it. You don't have to run it like other museums. I am not talking about ancient artefacts. And they do not have to be big. Start with your (native implements) and so people recognize that they are producing things that are part of their heritage; and then introduce embroidery from different parts of the country.

"They should be run by the communities. Foreigners cannot save the heritage – it has got to be the Afghans themselves. They have to appreciate it and be willing to preserve it themselves," she stressed.

Ms Dupree said the local governments could initiate the project: "Now we have established Provincial Councils – the bedrock of democracy.

"If they want, they can have a small room as a local museum. I would like to localize the preservation of heritage – but not just pretty objects but (including) carpentry tools."

Ms Dupree's idea of bringing preservation to the doorstep of every Afghan home has its roots in her father's being "one of the pioneers of rural reconstruction," the precursor of what is now dubbed as "countryside development."

"I was brought up on the principles of development. One principle that is talked (about) over and over again is that you don't develop a man's life in just one direction – you have to work on them (health, education, religion) at the same time."

To the international community trooping to Afghanistan to help out, Ms Dupree said: "If we have to go to the basics of development, if we haven't come here knowing this – it is very sad."

"We know it in theory but we do not practice it – one of the main things is sustainability," she stressed.

Appeal to donors: Include cultural preservation – and coordinate!
Fifth on her off-the-cuff tips on preserving Afghanistan's heritage sites is for donor countries to include cultural preservation in their menu of supported projects. "Poor Afghanistan – everybody is stirring the pot but not for Afghanistan's agenda."

"Donors would say, no, that's not in our mandate. But it does not have to cost much. It does not have to be a huge amount.

"Donors have tunnel vision – they are so pre-occupied with life, with critical life-saving projects – they don't see beyond"¦"

Still on donors, Ms Dupree stressed: "Coordination is the buzzword. Do they coordinate? They've got to coordinate."

As for fund-raising for cultural preservation projects, Ms Dupree expressed exasperation: "This particular strategy is very, very, very exhausting."

"Because I have never paid any attention to money"¦ I have been very lucky. My father was not rich but he never let us worry about money. I had two husbands – Louis, for instance, was very bad about money but there was enough coming in"¦

"Now, I spend all my time asking for money and I hate it because it is humiliating. But fundraising is the name of the game – but I would like to be doing much more productive things."

And last – so far – but not the least, Afghanistan would do well to heed Ms Dupree's own philosophy to stop the degradation and looting of the country's rich cultural past:

"I don't give up: You don't start – and then stop."

By Aurora Verceles Alambra, UNAMA

 

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Leading stories in today's Afghan media​

17 May 2010 - Thousands of Hazaras displaced due to clashes with nomads - MP; Wali Karzai rejects land grab allegations; 630 HIV-positive cases registered in Afghanistan; UN Secretary-General to attend Afghanistan conference; Karzai's US trip redefined partnership; High-profile drug lords among 200 captured - Ministry of Interior; Crop disease to cut opium production by 70 per cent.

AFGHAN TV NEWS

Tolo TV Headlines
The leader of Hezb-i-Wahdat, Mohammad Mohaqiq, said that over a thousand people have been displaced as a result of clashes between Kuchis and residents of some villages in Maidan Wardak and Ghazni provinces, adding that Kuchis have set fire to a number of houses in the villages.

Meanwhile, Rah-e-Naw, a political movement, has accused the Government of being involved in the row between the Kuchis and the residents of the provinces, warning that if the Government does not control the situation, the movement will boycott the upcoming Consultative Peace Jirga and the parliamentary elections.

The Afghan Interior Ministry said there are concerns that drug addicts could be misused by al-Qaeda and the Taliban for sabotage activities in the country. The Ministry also added that since the beginning of the current year, 204 drug traffickers have been arrested.

The Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission has expressed concern over the nomination of a number of candidates for the upcoming parliamentary elections.

The Afghan Defence Ministry has said that the recent report by the International Crisis Group – on the inability of the Afghan National Army to conduct independent operations – is unrealistic.

In a two-day health gathering in Tajikistan, the Afghan Health Ministry delegation said that over 630 cases of HIV/AIDS have been registered in the country.

Ariana TV Headlines
The International Crisis Group warns of the collapse of the Afghan National Army after the exit of international troops from Afghanistan.

Sixty percent of tall buildings in Afghanistan do not meet the master plan of Kabul.

The Kandahar Provincial Council rejects a Defence Ministry report claiming that Ahmad Wali Karzai and his colleagues have grabbed land belonging to the Defence Ministry in that province.

The Interior Ministry says it detained 107 suspected terrorists in several provinces in the past week.

Kabul MP Haji Mohamad Mohaqeq says nomads in Wardak province have attacked Hazaras. He also asked the Government to stop the attack.

Residents in Nadir Shah Kot district of Khost kill two mine planters.

Shamshad TV Headlines
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon says he will take part in the Peace Jirga which is to be held in Kabul in the next two months.

Sixty per cent of high-rise buildings in Afghanistan have been built against the master plan for Kabul.

In protest against a Defence Ministry report accusing Ahmad Wali Karzai of grabbing the Ministry's estates in Kandahar, the Kandahar Provincial Council avoided going to work on Sunday.

Interior Ministry says it has detained 107 suspected criminals and terrorists and turned them over to law enforcement bodies.

AFGHAN PRINT MEDIA

Outlook Afghanistan
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is expected to attend a conference to be held in Afghanistan in July. Afghan officials say Mr Ban made the pledge to visit Kabul during a personal telephone call with President Karzai.

President Hamid Karzai's just-concluded trip to the US has reshaped the relationship between the two countries, making Afghanistan more of an equal partner than ever, said Karzai Spokesman Waheed Omar.

The National Solidarity Programme (NSP) has completed 30 development projects in Sar-i-Pul province.

A fierce gale lashed the capital Kabul on Sunday, killing two people and wounding another two, said police officials.
More than 200 drug smugglers, a quarter of them high-profile dealers linked to international mafia, have been arrested over the past two months, the Ministry of Interior announced on Sunday.

More than 200 people were killed last week in 140 security incidents across Afghanistan, a 14-per cent drop from the week before, said Ministry of Interior Spokesman Zamaray Bashari on Sunday.

A mystery disease infecting opium poppies in Afghanistan could cut this year's illicit crop by up to 70 per cent, said Deputy Interior Minister for Counter-Narcotics Daud Daud on Sunday.

Afghanistan Times
Fresh fighting has erupted between Hazara and nomadic (Kuchis) communities in Wardak, said provincial officials.

State Media Editorials

Anis Daily
Undoubtedly, the support of regional countries for stability in Afghanistan is important. But continuous support from the US and UK, as they have rendered over the past several years, is vital.

Hewad Daily
It is the responsibility of all Afghans to support the upcoming Consultative Peace Jirga because peace and reconciliation is the only way that will put an end to the ongoing problems in the country.

Kabul Times
Insurgents find themselves in a shaky position that resisting against the will of the Afghan nation will not only push the country into tension and further troubles, but it will also bring them (the insurgents) total annihilation. So they are now in favour of reconciliation rather than confrontation.

Private Media Editorials

Outlook Afghanistan
Given the irregularities and fraud in the past presidential and provincial elections, people may have grown more apathetic. There might be more disappointments. The IEC must do enough to convince the voters and the people that mistakes will not be repeated and that their votes will count.

Afghanistan Times
Afghan and foreign forces must improve security in the poppy-farming provinces, and farmers must be provided with alternative livelihoods and necessary assistance.

Soroash-i Millat Daily
Referring to reports published by the International Crisis Group on the possible collapse of the Afghan National Army, the editorial says the achievements of the Afghan National Army in the past few years prove the opposite of what the report has said. Afghans strongly support the Afghan National Army.

Cheragh Daily
Pointing to the omission of some candidates' names by the Independent Election Commission, the daily asks the Head of the Commission, Fazel Ahmad Manawi, to restore the rights of candidacy to those candidates and rescue the IEC from being identified as a defamed office.

Weesa Daily
In relation to the issue of a dispute between Hazaras and nomads in Behsood district, the editorial says that the issue has now turned into a political matter. The daily adds that authorities have always sought a short-term solution to the issue, while it needs a permanent political solution.

REGIONAL MEDIA

Nangarhar (RTA) Headlines
The UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) office in Jalalabad has launched a three-day workshop on UNICEF assistance which is being attended by community elders, teachers and principals of schools in Nangarhar.

With the support of UN Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), a warehouse for agricultural materials such as seeds and fertilizer was constructed in Sangarsrai village of Kama district in Nangarhar province, at a total cost of Afs 1,134,000.

The Afghan Consultative Organization, an NGO, has equipped the Appeals Court of Jalalabad with computers and a computerized record-keeping system.

Two children died in a storm in Jalalabad.

Paktya (Sada-e-azadi web) Headlines
Paktika Governor Mohibullah Samim announced his future plans while addressing people in Barmal district. With the support of the PRT, education in the province will be among his first priorities, he added.

Paktya (Paktya Ghag Radio) Headlines
Two security guards of a private company were killed and two others were wounded when Taliban militants attacked a convoy in Andar district of Ghazni province.

Kandahar (Tolo-e-Afghan Newspaper) Headlines
Members of the Kandahar Provincial Council said that they will not participate in PC meetings unless the allegations against Ahmad Wali Karzai by the Defence Ministry are clarified.

Herat (RTA) Headlines
Ahmad Zia Rafat, a member of the ECC, met with the Herat governor and discussed some changes in the internal policies of the Commission. He urged the governor to advise district chiefs to remain neutral during the electoral campaign period.

Based on a Presidential Decree, 46 male and four female prisoners were released from Herat jail. Currently, over 1,900 prisoners, 110 of whom are female, are serving time in the jail.

Militants ambushed a WFP convoy escorted by ANA and ANP in Karoukh district of Herat province. The convoy remained unharmed after the militants faced resistance from the Government forces.