11th December 2001
Secretariat
Japan Platform
On December 11, 2001, the three days
"NGO Conference in Tokyo on the Reconstruction of Afghanistan"
started with more than two hundred participants. The 27 Afghan NGOs, mainly
the members of the Agency Coordinating Body for Afghan Relief (ACBAR) and
Afghan NGOs' Coordination Bureau sent their representatives, including
4 women, to Tokyo conference.
The conference was organized by Japan
Platform, the system to support NGO activities in the humanitarian emergency
activities. The conference is also co- organized by the NGO networking
bodies in Japan, the CSO network Japan, GII/IDI, Japanese Association of
NGOs for Agriculture and Rural Development, Japan Campaign to Ban Landmines
and Japan NGO Center for International Cooperation. 37 Japanese NGOs and
some non- Japanese non- Afghan NGOs also attended the conference. The government
officials of Japan, US, UK, Russia,
Canada, Germany and the EU, USAID officials observed the Conference. The
UN agencies and the World Bank sent Tokyo representatives to monitor the
Conference.
The first day of the conference started with the opening addresses by Mr. Kensuke Onish, chairperson of Japan Platform Council. Mr. Azizurrahman Rafiee of ACBAR also made the opening remarks.
There are two keynote speeches: "The
Role of International Community in the Reconstruction of Afghanistan"
by Mr. Yasushi Akashi, Chairman of the Japan Center for Preventive Diplomacy
and "Sincere Action is Desperately
Needed to Save Afghans Who were Abandoned by the World in the Past ? No
Rhetoric" by Dr. Sultan A. Salehi, Afghan medical doctor who lives long
time in Japan.
Mr. Wuria Karadaghy, Senior Programme
Coordinator of UNDP Afghanistan, presented his view on the reconstruction
process in Afghanistan. Following the opening session there were five different
working sessions:
Agriculture/Livestock Farming, Education, Public Health, Landmines, and
Conflict Prevention. The participants on each session exchanged their views
and discussed the subject to elaborate the appeal for each session.
The second day will be the Afghan regional working sessions. The comprehensive
final appeal will be released on the last day of the Conference.