Introduction and summary

The purpose of this Federal Government progress report is to inform the German Bundestag of the situation in . The Bundestag had requested that a comprehensive report on ’s engagement be drawn up. The Federal Government gladly took on this task and submits its report as a public document.

The ministries involved in Afghanistan – the Federal Foreign Office, the Federal Ministry of the Interior, the Federal Ministry of Defence and the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooper­ation and Development – elaborated this report jointly under the aegis of Ambassador Michael Steiner, the Federal Government’s Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan.

The report is based, inter alia, on the expertise and evaluations of around one hundred staff members of the Federal Ministries in Berlin and Bonn, the German Embassy in Kabul and its offices, the German representatives of international task force headquarters as well as of the Provincial Reconstruction Teams in Germany’s sphere of responsibility in northern Afghan­istan. The Federal Government also consulted with external experts when drafting the infor­mation on the issues and criteria dealt with in the report. Academic expertise was heard – also during a public hearing conducted by the Germany Bundestag’s Committee on Foreign Affairs on 23 November 2010 –, read and evaluated, and in some cases even quoted in the text. The structure of the report is based on existing texts coordinated at international level, for example those of NATO or the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), which reflect agreements between the international community and the Afghan Government.

In close cooperation among everyone involved, an attempt was made to portray our engage­ment in Afghanistan as it is: a long-term, solid contribution towards the foundations and fur­ther development of an independent and stable state. Naturally, Germany’s engagement in northern Afghanistan is to the fore. However, it is outlined within the context of overall developments and of other international contributions.

The report also recalls the starting point and still valid reason for the huge effort and sacrifice made by the Bundeswehr, as well as civilian representatives and development workers in the course of their work: the threat posed by international terrorism and Islamist extremism, also to the Federal Republic of Germany. To put it clearly: Germany’s diverse civil-military and diplomatic engagement in Afghanistan is helping to protect us from dangers which do not simply emerge at our own borders. Together with the Afghan Government and the inter­national community, the Federal Government has undertaken to help combat the threats facing an ever more closely interconnected world there where they emerge and to foster Afghanistan’s long-term stability and development.

This report is divided into the three key spheres of the international engagement in Afghan­istan, namely security, governance and development:

Security

The terror attacks of 11 September 2001 showed how easily our security can be jeopardized by radical fanatics from the remotest parts of the world. Afghanistan under the Taliban was just such a place. Within the framework of the North Atlantic Alliance (NATO) and the inter­national community, the Federal Republic of Germany declared its readiness back then to help bring peace to Afghanistan and to reconstruct this dangerous and practically lawless country. The Taliban’s fall and the decisive action taken against the terrorist network al Qaida have uprooted the terrorist networks operating there and contained for the time being the threat emanating directly from Afghanistan, which has been a safe haven for terrorists. In the long run, however, only a sufficiently stable Afghan state can ensure that no dangers emanate from its territory.

The development of a new Afghan state began in 2002 in a deceptively calm security situ­ation. In adapting to the challenges of the mission, Germany’s commitment to Afghanistan has produced effective new instruments for civil-military cooperation in conflict areas. How­ever, early successes have sometimes also given rise to unrealistic goals. But then the initially defeated Taliban and other former warlords built up their forces again in exile – mostly in Pakistan – and hit back. The security situation in Afghanistan deteriorated greatly from 2006 onwards. Bundeswehr troops were involved in fighting for the first time and all too often, German soldiers were killed. More soldiers lost their lives in 2010 than ever before in the course of the international military presence. This is due, not least, to the increased magnitude of the international security force ISAF and the greater number of operations.

However, 2010 could also be seen as a turning point. The new ISAF strategy, the rise in the number of countries supplying troops and in troop levels, as well as the training of operational Afghan security forces, a measure which is now having an impact, created the conditions in 2009 and 2010 for halting the downward trend. The international community is now pursuing a joint strategy. If the political process of national reconciliation which has now begun and which was internationally endorsed at the conferences in London and Kabul becomes reality, then all the prerequisites will be in place for a tangible turnabout in 2011.

An important announcement was made in 2010, namely the timetable for the deployment of combat troops was set out. The Federal Government has always stressed that it did not want a permanent military involvement in Afghanistan. At the NATO summit in Lisbon in Novem­ber, support was reaffirmed for President Karzai’s goal for the Afghan Government to grad­ually assume responsibility for security in the entire country by the close of 2014. The inter­national presence in Afghanistan will therefore change radically between 2011 and 2014 – from transition to transformation. The Federal Government’s goal is to initiate the transition process in Germany’s sphere of responsibility in the north in 2011. This will not lead to an immediate troop withdrawal but it will make it a realistic prospect from 2012 onwards.

Afghanistan will remain a long-term task for the international community even after the with­drawal of its combat troops. Lasting regional stability requires a constructive involvement of neighbouring countries and of all influential actors in the region. There have only been fledg­ling attempts so far. It is foreseeable that the country will require more security forces than it can finance on its own. Their training and support will therefore have to be continued. Civil­ian reconstruction assistance will continue to be of growing importance. The Federal Govern­ment has thus doubled funding for reconstruction and development to up to 430 million euro annually as of 2010.

Governance

Key state institutions have been newly established in Afghanistan since 2001. However, the continued absence of the state’s monopoly on the use of force, corruption, a lack of resolve, arbitrary decision-making processes as well as insufficient government personnel capacities are still hindering the effective exercise of state authority, both in Kabul and in the provinces. The international presence has not been able to sufficiently change this situation so far. The government’s legitimacy in the eyes of the population will depend on progress in this sphere. First and foremost, Afghan efforts are required, accompanied by a long-term change in aware­ness.

However, the will of the Afghan Government to build up transparent administration structures free of political influence is not strong enough. Factional and clientelistic interests stand in the way of an administration based on the rule of law and geared to fostering development. Another difficulty are the considerable gaps in the education of personnel and the competition with international actors for the brightest minds.

There are still serious shortcomings in Afghanistan’s justice sector; however, a tangible change in direction has been evident in certain areas since 2007. Particularly in the fight against corruption, however, hardly any progress has been made. Afghanistan remains in sec­ond last place on the Transparency International Index. Not even the establishment of special units to tackle corruption can conceal the fact that the Afghan state has not adequately lived up to its responsibility in this field.

The human rights situation in Afghanistan, on the other hand, has improved since 2001. How­ever, it does not yet meet international standards. The Federal Government will continue to seek to ensure that security and human rights are not mutually exclusive.

The hopes of the Afghan people and of the international community that an Afghan democ­racy could be established following the fall of the authoritarian Taliban regime were damp­ened by negative experiences such as election fraud, abuses of authority and the suppression of freedom of speech. Nevertheless, tangible and visible progress has been made in the spheres of freedom of opinion and the democratic formation of political will in Afghanistan.

All actors now agree that the conflict in Afghanistan cannot be resolved by military means alone. The security presence must go hand-in-hand with a political solution: a process of seeking agreement and of political compromise with the insurgents. In 2010, the Afghan Gov­ernment initiated the first steps towards political conflict management. This has kicked off a process which will possibly play a decisive role in finding viable political solutions to the conflict. However, non-negotiable principles must apply here: the renunciation of violence and terrorism, as well as recognition of the constitutional framework.

Sufficient progress has not been made in the fight against drugs either. While it was possible to reduce the area under drug cultivation – 20 of the 34 provinces are free of opium – this was cancelled out by the more intensive cultivation in the remaining areas.

Through resolute reforms, the Afghan state was able to increase its revenue tenfold since 2002. However, for the time being it cannot yet finance even half of its ongoing costs from its own revenue. Afghanistan will thus remain dependent on international support for some time to come.

Development

Afghanistan is one of the world’s poorest countries. Since 2002, the Afghan economy – starting out from an extremely low level – has undergone a very dynamic development. Particularly in rural areas, however, there is still widespread poverty.

The rural population mainly lives off income from arable and livestock farming. Rough ter­rain and an extreme climate, the lack of irrigation management and a considerable degrad­ation in resources pose substantial challenges for arable and livestock farming. Income from farming still very much depends on rainfall. Even in years when the harvest is good, Afghan­istan is not self-sufficient due to its lack of transport and storage capacities. Nevertheless, with international and German assistance, the Afghan Government was able to achieve steady progress in the development of rural regions.

At the outset of the international commitment, infrastructure in Afghanistan was weak and, where present, largely destroyed. Since 2001, considerable progress has been made with regard to drinking water and energy supplies and transport routes have been improved. Afghanistan’s road network is bigger and better than ever before and the large cities, at least, again have uninterrupted power. However, the population’s access to safe drinking water is still very limited.

Afghanistan’s education system largely collapsed during the civil war and under the yoke of the Taliban, who were hostile to education. Many schools were destroyed and women and girls were denied access to education. This situation has fundamentally changed. Remarkable successes have become apparent, especially in the sphere of primary education, since the end of the Taliban regime. The Federal Government is involved in the school sector, in teacher training, in the promotion of German as a foreign language, literacy programmes and adult education. There are many partnerships between German and Afghan universities.

An adequate health service is vital for the country’s economic and social development, as well as for the welfare of the Afghan people. Visible progress has been made since 2001. Access to doctors and hospitals, hardly possible before then, has already improved consider­ably. The mortality rate is falling. The Afghan people can see the improvements in living con­ditions and this is helping to bring stability to the country.

A young generation is growing up in Afghanistan with access to other cultures and new educational opportunities. This is progress in itself which gives rise to expectations for the future but which stands in contrast to a very conservative society. Should this young gener­ation be disappointed, there is a danger they will become alienated and radicalized and this creates additional potential for conflict.

Much of the progress achieved in Afghanistan was only possible with international assistance. If this development is to be continued, the Afghan Government’s own efforts are needed, as well as long-term plannable support from the international community geared to Afghan priorities.