Report: ‘What Next For Afghanistan’
International Rescue Committee
April 2014 28 pages
The IRC report details specific recommendations, urging the international community to:
:: Make a long-term commitment to the people of Afghanistan.
:: Support millions in need by making high-return investments at the local level with effective community-based programs.
:: Break the cycle of displacement through refuge, resettlement and asylum for vulnerable Afghans who cannot yet safely return home, and target those who have returned with concentrated support.
:: Respond quickly to lifesaving humanitarian and life-building development needs.
:: Use limited resources effectively. Aid agencies must coordinate and share information so that assistance reaches all in need.
:: Create a plan to align humanitarian and development response by listening to the needs of the people and draw on existing frameworks to create a comprehensive plan.
These recommendations were developed with and are supported by the IRC’s Afghanistan Taskforce: Madeleine Albright, Sir John Holmes, M. Farooq Kathwari, Kathleen Newland, Milbrey Rennie, Gideon Rose, Maureen White and James Wolfensohn.
David Miliband, president and CEO of the IRC said: “Conflict has torn at the fabric of Afghanistan for generations and a great deal of blood and treasure has been spent in the last decade. What we need now is urgent and sustainable investment to support the Afghans in securing their own future. Despite real security concerns the international community must not turn its back on the Afghan people. The end of international military operations in Afghanistan is the time to redouble humanitarian efforts, not scale them back.”