Afghanistan will thrive if only we let it

12 December 2008

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Clare Lockhart, who has advised both the UN and the Afghan government, says that the international aid community needs to trust the Afghan people

It is not too late for Afghanistan to regain ground, but it will require a little humility and forbearance from the international aid community: recognising that a 19th-century colonialist view, which relies on local leaders to suppress populations, will not work for an engaged and globally minded Afghan citizenry.

So the international community needs rapidly to agree a common goal on the road ahead: a stable, self-sufficient, country. Barack Obama’s election to the US Presidency provides an opportunity to rethink the approach towards Afghanistan. The solution must include and directly benefit Afghans, in concrete terms. Afghanistan is not a sick patient; it is a country full of proud, capable people, who only need to be given a chance to determine their own future. It is these men and women who can make their own country a success, by stepping up to leadership and management positions rather than being displaced from them. When the military players begin to protect the population, and the international financiers re-examine the reconstruction system so as to empower Afghans, the road to a brighter future will re-emerge.