UN must increase focus on security for Afghan population

Kabul: Ordinary Afghans are losing hope, according to a report released by human rights groups today. The report revealed that 63 per cent of Afghans believe that the security situation in their communities has worsened since 2004. Four years ago, 75 per cent believed it had improved.

The group, including aid agency CARE International, is calling on the members of the UN – meeting this Saturday to revise the mandate of the UN Assistance Mission to Afghanistan - to increase its focus on security for the Afghan population.

According to the new research report ‘Fight poverty to end insecurity: Afghan perceptions of insecurity’, from the Afghan Human Rights Research and Advocacy Consortium (HRRAC), Afghans are losing faith in disarmament initiatives and have little trust in the capabilities of the police. Poverty and unemployment are identified as the driving forces behind insecurity and they call for these issues to be addressed as a priority.

“The UN must focus more on ensuring security in Afghan communities”, says Lex Kassenberg, country director for CARE International in Afghanistan and HRRAC board member. “We need to recognise that the spreading insecurity is not only affecting security forces, aid organisations and government workers. The average Afghan is also threatened”.

The study conducted by HRRAC in six provinces of Afghanistan, shows that the majority of people interviewed believe there has been a general rise in crime and violence over the past four years.

“Suicide bombings and war fighting are not the only problems that are haunting the Afghan population”, says CARE International UK’s chief executive, Geoffrey Dennis. “These stories rarely make the headlines in international media, but are very real to Afghans who are trying to go on with their lives”.

As the UN meets this weekend to renew the UN Mission to Afghanistan’s mandate, HRRAC is calling on its members to increase its focus on security for the Afghan population, assisting the Afghan government in:

• Addressing poverty and unemployment, which according to HRRAC research are what the Afghan people believe to be the root causes of insecurity.
• Carrying out a proper security sector reform, which focuses training of the Afghan National Police on civilian tasks that will improve security in Afghan communities.
• Ensuring that an independent revision of disarmament programmes such as Disarmament, Demobilization, Reintegration (DDR) and Disarmament of Illegal Armed Groups (DIAG) takes place and that these disarmament programs are implemented in a tougher way. 

The Human Rights Research and Advocacy Consortium (HRRAC) consists of the following national and international members: Save the Children, CARE International, Action Aid, Oxfam, Swedish Committee for Afghanistan, ACTED, ADA, ACSF, R&D, AIHRC, AWEC, ACBAR and AREU

Notes to Editors:

For more information, interviews or a copy of the full report, please contact:

Amber Meikle, senior press officer, CARE International UK, 0207 9349348, meikle@careinternational.org

About the study:

• The report presents follow-up research to that conducted by HRAAC in 2004. The 2004 report ‘Take the Guns Away’ focused on Afghans’ perceptions of the security situation in the country prior to the 2005 presidential elections.
• Researchers returned to the same six provinces surveyed in 2004, Kandahar, Herat, Balkh, Nangahar, Badakshan and Kabul.  In some areas, the security situation prevented researchers from going back to the exact same communities.
• 1400 interviews were conducted to capture a broad range of perceptions of the security situation today in Afghanistan. They were both individual interviews and focus groups.

Key findings:

• 63 per cent of Afghans believe security has deteriorated over the past four years. In 2004, 75 per cent believed security had improved over the past year.
• Most believe that warlords in their area have retained or increased the amount of weapons in their possession compared to four years ago.
• Government disarmament initiatives, although widely implemented, are at best considered a partial success.
• The insecurity is seen as stemming from insurgent activity, corruption within the security forces, the misuse of power by local warlords and the negative influence of neighbouring states. The interviewees highlight the role of the International Military Forces in providing security to the population in areas where the police and Government forces are incapable of doing so.