Remarks at Breakfast with Afghan Civil Society Representatives
Remarks
Hillary Rodham Clinton
Secretary of State
Kameha Grand Hotel
Bonn, Germany
December 5, 2011
Thank
you very much, Ambassador Grossman, and let me also thank Lady Ashton
and the European Union for the excellent work that they are doing and,
as you just said, they will continue to do in Afghanistan. And let me
thank Foreign Minister Baird from Canada, which has been a stalwart
supporter for the development of your country. I also want to thank
everyone from the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission and
the Afghan Women’s Network. I think the Bonn Civil Society Forum was a
successful effort, for which you deserve the credit. There are some
important recommendations coming out of it that we will pay close
attention to.
I want to make five quick points, starting with the
importance of what you do as representatives of civil society in
Afghanistan and a request that you find ways to unify around specific
priorities. There are many interests around the table, from agriculture
to economic development to the protection of women, the importance of
good governance, ending corruption, a reconciliation process that is
inclusive and respects the rights of the people of Afghanistan under
your constitution and your laws.
So there are a number of critical
priorities, and I would hope that out of your working through this
Civil Society Forum and the work that you do back home, you will set
some priorities that you will focus on to be sure that attention is paid
both by your government and by the international community.
Secondly,
I think we’ve learned a lot in the last 10 years, and I want to be sure
that we apply those lessons. So one of my hopes is that working with
you and others who are actually on the ground throughout the country, we
can review what works and what doesn’t work. The question about
agriculture: We have made some real progress together; let’s look at
what we should do to strengthen that and what we can do to change what
is not working. When it comes to health or education, fighting
corruption, there are, within your priorities, areas where we’ve had
some success together and areas where have not. So I would like to be
sure we know how we can work effectively together. Because it is not
only the international community that must pledge our continuing
assistance after 2014, we have to strengthen civil society to be a
strong partner with us in making sure that money is spent well, that the
kinds of political changes you want to see are underway.
So we
have a lot of work ahead of us. And I am certainly, on behalf of the
United States, committed with my colleagues around this table to working
with you, but I ask that you help us by being organized and as unified
as possible, because we will do better together if we are working on
specific outcomes in these areas that will make a difference.
Third,
there is always a tension in this kind of work for a government like
mine or the EU or Canada or the World Bank or any other institution who
wishes to support your development politically and economically: Do we
focus on building the capacity of the government, or do we focus on
building the capacity of civil society? We are trying to do both. And I
think your sitting around this table is evidence that, with support,
civil society is flourishing against some quite difficult challenges
throughout the country.
We also see progress in certain capacities
of the government, but we need to see more. And we need your best
advice about how we can help the government, which ultimately does have
responsibility for the country, develop the kind of professionalism and
abilities that you would like to see it have. You have to help us with
that. And it’s not only the government of ministries, it’s also the
parliament, it’s also the judiciary. Each has a very important role to
play. And we will stand ready to help build the capacity of these
institutions, but we have a duty to our taxpayers to make sure that
money is spent well, and I very much appreciate that point that you
raised.
And the corruption problem is a real one. You know that as
well as anyone. What can we do to try to tackle it together? Because we
want to make changes that will be lasting and will benefit the people
of Afghanistan. We have ideas, you have ideas; let’s be sure we’re
coordinating on that.
Next, the reconciliation process is one that
we believe, if pursued properly, holds promise for the kind of
political settlement that would resolve much of the ongoing conflict.
But we are also very conscious that any such reconciliation cannot be at
the cost of the gains which you have suffered for – not just the last
10 years but the last 30-plus years, which is why I think it’s so
important that your voices be heard in that area as well. You don’t make
peace with your friends, but you also cannot make peace with those who
refuse to rejoin society and behave in a peaceful manner. So how we test
that and how we proceed is something we’re going to need your support
for and your understanding of.
Finally, we have to do a better job
on behalf of the international community of making clear that we are
looking to support Afghanistan not for any of our own agendas but
because, number one, we want to see Afghanistan secure and peaceful and,
number two, we want to avoid another conflict in the future which could
come if the state is not strong enough and if the people do not support
it.
So we know we have a lot of work ahead of us, but I don’t
think that we can be successful in doing that work if we are not having
conversations like this. And therefore, I am very grateful that all of
you came for this Civil Society Forum. I appreciate the work that you
have put into making your presentations. But this is just the beginning
of the hard work, and what I’m hoping is that through our coordinated
efforts we can make specific progress on all of these points.
And I
think we should get a document that comes out of this, building on the
recommendations of the forum, and we should be very clear about what we
can do and what we cannot do together, what is possible and what is
something that we can’t achieve, so that we then know what are the
specific steps we should take in order to assist you in your development
and your support for a peaceful and secure Afghanistan.
So let me thank you all, and I think we have some concluding remarks.
