The Afghan government has laid out 23 national priority programs ahead of an international conference that will tackle the country’s development agenda.
The national priorities, which focus on governance, development, and peace and security, were presented July 8 at a meeting of the United Nations-led committee overseeing the implementation of the Afghanistan Compact, a five-year framework guiding the international community’s engagement with the Central Asian country, U.N. News Center reports.
The meeting took place in Kabul, host of the July 20 conference that would serve as a follow-up to the London conference on Afghanistan in January. The U.K.-hosted event endorsed a transition strategy focused on greater Afghan responsibility for its own affairs.
The gathering in Kabul, which carries the theme “Afghan priorities for the Afghan people,” is expected to feature U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and senior officials from more than 70 countries. According to Staffan de Mistura, the U.N. secretary-general’s special representative in Afghanistan, donors are not expected to pledge new funds but look at realigning committed resources in accordance with Afghanistan’s national priorities.
