Why Japan Assists Afghanistan

Why Afghanistan?

The September 11th terrorist attacks in 2001 was launched by Al-Qaeda, under the protection by the Taliban regime in Afghanistan.
Following the military operations which led to the fall of the Taliban, reconstruction efforts by the Afghans, with the support from the international community, have brought about significant improvements to the country devastated by decades-long conflict.
Despite such achievements, the fight against terrorism in Afghanistan is still halfway: severe security situation continues, and the amount of opium production is record high. The world is far from free of terrorism, as many brutal incidents have proven. Ceasing the efforts in Afghanistan will definitely throw the country back to the a hotbed of terrorism.
By no means can this be a choice for Afghanistan, nor for the international community, To work with the nation of Afghanistan in overcoming decades of suffering and to shoulder its responsibility as a member of the international community, Japan remains committed to assisting the Afghan's efforts to reconstruct their country.

Technical support to rice farmers by JICA in Jalalabad

The peace and reconstruction of Afghanistan are vital to prevent the country from stepping back to a hotbed of terrorism. To this end, Japan has been providing humanitarian and reconstruction assistance on one hand, and contributing to the efforts the security of the country on the other.
Japan has pledged assistance of a total of US $ 2 billions and has implemented US $ 1.46 billions in such various fields such as humanitarian assistance, political process, security, human resource development, economic infrastructure, and so on. Japan took the initiative of hosting the International Conference on Reconstruction Assistance to Afghanistan (Tokyo Conference) in January 2002, which marked the beginning of reconstruction process of Afghanistan.
To actually implement such assistance on the ground, around 140 Japanese civilians including JICA experts and Embassy staff work in Afghanistan despite severe security situation. Japan is going to strengthen assistance through human resources by dispatching a civilian assistance team to a PRT from spring 2009.
In addition to Japan's activities in Afghanistan, Japan's Maritime Self-Defense Force has been conducting replenishing support to vessels engaged in Maritime Interdiction Operations of Operation Enduring Freedom in the Indian Ocean based on Replenishment Support Special Measures Law.