No 'hyperactive and non-productive' international staff please

Preparing for Afghanistan's reconstruction was the focus of a three-day conference co-hosted by the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank and the United Nations Develpment Programme in Islamabad on 27-28 November last year. The strongest message to emerge was the need to make sure the reconstruction process is led by the Afghans themselves.

There was concern, voiced by both Afghans and some experienced non-Afghans, that the international community, having perhaps begun to realize the value of indigenous expertise, would now revert to type and pay only lipservice to the involvement of Afghans in the decision-making process. One could see evidence of this when statements such as 'Afghans must be in the driving seat' were followed, almost in the same breath, by an acknowledgement that there was little time even to consult them. The main time constraint seemed to be the need to capitalize on the current interest and raise funds as fast as possible before interest moved elsewhere. The co-hosts announced that they were to embark straight away on a needs assessment exercise as a basis for a pledging conference in Tokyo in January organized by Japan, the EU, the US and Saudi Arabia.

The themes that emerged from this Conference arose from all sectoral groups and were similar to those arising from the civil society meeting held in Germany in December (see p20). Security, both for the people of Afghanistan and for those assisting them, was seen as an absolute priority to be addressed by the international community. The need for good coordination, collaboration and flexibility in all aspects of reconstruction was stressed.

Variations on a theme

But many of the points that were made were very much variations on the same theme. It was stressed that the assistance provided should be community driven rather than top-down; that the employment of expatriates should be kept to a minimum, given that there are women and men in Afghanistan with experience in delivering humanitarian aid and running development programmes; that the early return of the Afghan diaspora, many of whom had received education and training in other countries, would benefit Afghanistan; that the reconstruction process should include opportunities for debate among Afghans about the best way forward. Speed is not the most crucial consideration: quick fixes should be avoided in favour of sustainable programmes, with continuing funding for existing long-term programmes.

There was a plea from the Afghans present that the international community should be more sensitive about issues of gender and ethnicity. Gender issues had often been treated simplistically, while the way non-Afghans emphasized ethnicity had been divisive in the past. Most Afghans want to live peacefully in a multi-ethnic society, and expatriates should be careful not to exacerbate the difficulties.

Employing international staff

A specific issue which received attention, particularly from NGOs, was that of a code of conduct for the employment of staff. There was concern that the UN would pay high salary rates and poach experienced staff from NGOs to do jobs such as translating and driving, thus depriving the NGOs of valuable skills. If salaries were too high, the future Afghanistan would not in any case be able to sustain them.

The key to a realistic and sustainable reconstruction of Afghanistan is the development of a process that involves and develops Afghan civil society. My abiding memory of the conference is a plea from an Afghan participant that we should stop sending out international staff who are 'hyperactive and non-productive'.

Elizabeth Winter is a Special Adviser on Afghanistan to a variety of organisztions including the British Agencies Afghanistan group (BAAG), an umbrella group for British NGOs. She can be contacted at elizabeth.winter@www.baag.org.uk