Statement by Mrs. Sadako Ogata
Special Representative of the Prime Minister of Japan
At the Tokyo Conference on Consolidation of Peace (DDR)

In Afghanistan
February 22, 2003

It is my great pleasure to be here today to welcome President Karzai and the Afghan delegation, thirteen months since the Tokyo Conference on Reconstruction Assistance to Afghanistan. I am also happy to see old faces, such as Mr. Lakhdar Brahimi, close collaborators with whom we have worked hard to realize what to us seemed like "hopes" and "dreams" to build a new Afghanistan after long years of war.

Today, we are at a new phase of focusing on the country's emerging sets of national agenda with clearer visions and determination for action. Now, we are moving on to consolidate the gains that we have made in the course of the past year. The Loya Jirga successfully elected President Karzai to steer a government with an increasingly functioning administrative capacity. Refugees have repatriated in large numbers. The internally displaced persons are returning home. Children are back to school expecting better and more schools. Road repair and reconstruction have started. The international community has supported the Afghan efforts by fulfilling the pledges they made last year at the Tokyo Conference. As President Karzai has repeatedly stated, Afghan people themselves have been in the driver's seat. They are steering the reborn nation, carefully through still bumpy roads, with donors, neighbouring countries, international organizations and NGOs committed to help.

As co-chair of the Tokyo Conference last year, I recall emphasizing two objectives related to the reconstruction of Afghanistan. One was to reinforce the political process of setting up a functioning government and establishing security throughout the country. The second was to ensure a seamless transition from humanitarian assistance to recovery and reconstruction. Although these objectives have not yet been fully achieved, they are in the process of being realized. The relevance of the DDR process is that it links and consolidates the two objectives.

Various states have volunteered to take lead roles in certain sectors of Afghan reconstruction work not only because of its vital importance, but also because of its close linkage with some of the priority areas of assistance that Japan has been pursuing. This is not to say that we are not aware of the magnitude of the challenge we have offered to meet. We count on very much on the collaboration and support of the government, UNAMA and all of you present here to deal with the task ahead of us.

This morning, President Karzai has outlined to us the impressive initiative he has taken to put the DDR process in motion. He has already set up major institutional structures and time tables for action. As to the first step of disarmament, he is to identify several areas from where to start the process, and we shall be ready to facilitate the orderly process through registration and other means of support. As to the demobilization and reintegration options, I believe the process will merge into the comprehensive community development program that Japan has already been promoting.

The comprehensive community development program started with an attempt to assure a seamless transition from humanitarian assistance to recovery and reconstruction. It focuses assistance for the reintegration of refugees and internally displaced persons, covering shelter, potable water, crop production, education and health services. It then attempts to expand the scope of the assistance to local communities and thereby cover a wider region and range of population. The program has already started in the Kandahar region. It is sometimes referred to as the Ogata Initiative, since the inspiration came during a mission we undertook last summer, with Minister Pashutun very much in the driving seat. We would like to see demobilized soldiers gaining livelihood and eventually participate in the development communities programs that would expand throughout the country.

When we tackle the formidable challenges of disarmament, demobilization and reintegration of ex-combatants, we should keep in mind that peace building is people building. I often think of the people who were beginning to trek home when I visited the Shomali Plains last January. I saw with my own eyes the big difference between devastation then and only five months later in June, when the grapevines were green again, and people were rebuilding their houses. By securing an environment where people feel secure enough to engage in building and planning for tomorrow, they will open their hearts to all neighbours, old and new. Community life will again be at the basis of Afghan society.

The biblical lesson of beating their "swords into ploughshares" comes to mind as we debate the plan of action for DDR. This motto was at the heart of the establishment of the United Nations as states launched the major international enterprise for peace and reconstruction, and today it is translated into a modern application "from guns to plows", the theme of this Conference. It is appropriate that we relaunch a major peace and reconstruction program here in Tokyo for Afghanistan. Let us hope that many soldiers and officers will turn over their "swords" or "guns", and start plowing the land with new "plows" in their hands again. May I wish you all a fruitful debate that will yield much concrete results.

Thank you very much.