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GENEVA / AFGHANISTAN PRESSER
STORY: GENEVA / AFGHANISTAN PRESSER
TRT: 2:01
SOURCE: UNTV CH
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 28 NOVEMBER 2018, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
28 NOVEMBER 2018, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
1. Wide shot, Celestial Sphere at night outside Palais des Nations
2. Wide shot, journalists
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Tadamichi Yamamoto, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Afghanista, United Nations:
“Perhaps this was the first ministerial meeting when the issue of peace has been taken up with so much weight in addition to the regular issues which are development, growth, social issues and reforms.”
4. Med shot, photographers
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Tadamichi Yamamoto, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Afghanista, United Nations:
“This also sends a message to various actors, of course to the Afghan people but also to the insurgents, the Taliban, that even when they join, or when they are part of the Government, that the international community will continue to assist Afghanistan.”
6. Wide shot, dais
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Hamdullah Mohib, National Security Advisor, Afghanistan:
“We have put our step forward, it’s time for the Taliban now to come forward to see if they are serious about ending the conflict and wanting to see and play a constructive role in the Afghanistan society.”
9. Med shot, journalists and delegates
10. SOUNDBITE (English) Mohammad H Qayoumi, Minister of Finance, Afghanistan:
“I think in the past four years we have passed more than 390 legislations, which in some ways I don’t think we have done that much in the prior 100 years. So, I think these are some of the achievements that we have had. And as we look towards the next five years, our hope is how we can move from a donor-based economy to an environment where we will be self-reliant, and the focus will be on private sector investment, because no country has been able to move from poverty to prosperity through grants and aid.”
11. Wide shot, TV camera operators
12. Med shot, delegate
13. Wide shot, dais
14. Med shot, photographer
15. Wide shot, TV camera operator
A top UN official said Afghanistan has undertaken significant reforms which the international community will continue to support long after peace is secured in the war-torn country.
Speaking to journalists today (29 Nov) at the end of the Geneva Conference on Afghanistan, UN Special Representative for Afghanistan Tadamichi Yamamoto, confirmed that the issue of an end to extremist violence had been discussed in depth.
SOUNDBITE (English) Tadamichi Yamamoto, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Afghanista, United Nations:
“Perhaps this was the first ministerial meeting when the issue of peace has been taken up with so much weight in addition to the regular issues which are development, growth, social issues and reforms.”
Tadamichi said this sends a message to various actors, including the Taliban, “that even when they join, or when they are part of the Government, that the international community will continue to assist Afghanistan.” His comments follow the Afghan Government’s pledge earlier this year to hold unconditional talks with the Taliban.
Extremists have been held responsible for innumerable deadly attacks on civilians in the country, including one earlier today in Kabul, reportedly targeting the premises of a private security company.
Afghanistan’s National Security Advisor, Dr Hamdullah Mohib, insisted that the people of Afghanistan were ready for peace. He suggested that the Taliban were also ready, owing to increased military pressure on them throughout Afghanistan adding that the group had lost their legitimacy in the eyes of Afghan citizens.
SOUNDBITE (English) Hamdullah Mohib, National Security Advisor, Afghanistan:
“We have put our step forward, it’s time for the Taliban now to come forward to see if they are serious about ending the conflict and wanting to see and play a constructive role in the Afghanistan society.”
The press conference was at the end of a high-level conference on Afghanistan at the UN in Geneva attended by 67 countries, 34 international organizations and representatives from civil society and the private sector.
Its outcomes included the adoption of the Geneva Mutual Accountability Framework (GMAF), a list of commitments for the Government and international community to achieve by 2020. These include enhancing inclusive economic growth, reducing poverty, creating employment, fighting corruption, empowering women and improving governance, rule of law and human rights.
Noting the importance of attracting private investment to boost Afghanistan’s economic self-reliance to secure sustainable development and peace, Afghanistan’s Minister of Finance Mohammad Qayoumi, said the Afghan Government had passed more than 390 legislations in the past four years, “which in some ways I don’t think we have done that much in the prior 100 years.” He said Afghanistan looked towards the next five years in hope that it can move “from a donor-based economy to an environment where [it] will be self-reliant” adding that the focus would be on private sector investment, because “no country has been able to move from poverty to prosperity through grants and aid.”
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