Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Kabul (Agenzia Fides) - It is an initiative of Afghan authorities, uniting over 300 non-government organizations who are present and working throughout the territory, in an attempt to once again try to reestablish peace starting “from below,” with the Afghan citizens, who have had enough of the violence, conflicts, and attacks. The effort is also being supported by institutions, governments, non-government organizations, and religious communities in Europe and throughout the world.
It is an opportunity for dialogue that excludes all religious coercion and classifies the use of military force as a last resort, maintaining close communication with all components of the varied political and social world of Afghanistan.
The Afghan civil society associations forum, which began in recent months, supports the strengthening of the role of the United Nations in the country, and the commitment of the NGOs, in the cooperation, reconstruction, and national reconciliation of Afghanistan. They also call for a decrease in violence inflicted on civilians and compensation for victims, according to international law on human rights.
These are among the 19 objectives that have been pronounced by the organizations of the Afghan civil society, published in a document recently presented in Kabul and in Rome, with a message from the Afghan President Karzai and European governments. The conference that was held for its presentation, was also attended by the Italian delegation “Afghana” (www.afghana.org), a platform party of Italian civil society that participated in the compilation of the document with the Afghans, and whose main objective continues to be that of guaranteeing basic human rights for the entire population, i.e. education, health, food and water supply, and of course, social peace.
Some of the organizations that presented the document were: the Afghan Civil Society Forum, the Afghan NGO Coordination Body (a group of close to 300 Afghan NGOs), Afghan Women Network (that is comprised of dozens of associations that fight for women’s rights). The Italian coordination of the platform party “Afghana” is an association of representatives of the institutional world, the academic world, and from the Catholic world - such as FOCSIV (a federation of Italian Catholic NGOs), Acli, and Pax Christi.
Among the projects underway is a planned regional conference of civil societies with representatives from Pakistan, Iran, and other bordering countries of Afghanistan. There is also an encounter scheduled to take place in European Parliament, with the organization of the regional conference for peace and stability in Afghanistan, in October 2008. (PA) (Agenzia Fides 12/3/2008 righe 35, parole 403)
