ASG meeting opens in Berlin

A two-day meeting on the reconstruction of Afghanistan organised by the 16-member Afghan Support Group (ASG) began in the German city of Berlin on Wednesday. Talks during the meeting would focus on various aid and development initiatives for Afghanistan including measures for refugees who've fled into neighbouring countries, the internally displaced and returnees, as well as the reconstruction.

In addition to the major donor countries, top UN officials such as the UN Secretary General's Special Representative for Afghanistan, Lakhdar Brahimi, the UN Emergency Relief Coordinator, Kenzo Oshima, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Ruud Lubbers and the Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Mark Malloch Brown, nominated to lead early recovery plans, would also attend.

Representatives from the International Rescue Committee (IRC) would also take part in the conference and country director for IRC in Pakistan and Afghanistan, Sigurd Hanson told IRIN on Wednesday they hoped that donor nations would concentrate on "consistent political action" in Afghanistan. "This is central to improve protection as well as improve the situation of internally displaced people and the delivery of humanitarian assistance," he added.

Sigurd said that the provision of long term and flexible funding was crucial at this point in time in order to increase the capacity of aid agencies. "They definitely need to focus on longer term funding for recovery in Afghanistan," he stressed. He also warned that resources were also needed for the coordination of humanitarian activities in the field.

Germany currently holds the presidency of the ASG, the donor body that provides the bulk of humanitarian assistance to Afghans in the region. The group should prove instrumental in the reconstruction of the country as news from Bonn emerges that Afghan factions have agreed on names for a new transitional government for the country.

The meeting in Berlin followed a three-day international conference on reconstruction in Afghanistan in the Pakistani capital Islamabad last week. The gathering, sponsored by UNDP, the World Bank and the Asia Development Bank comprised of consultations between experienced and knowledgeable Afghans from the NGO and professional community and their international assistance partners.

The ASG was founded in 1996 and brings together Afghanistan's main donors countries, the European Commission (EC), international organisations and NGOs active in Afghanistan.