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by Wais BDemotix Chief Editor Wais Bashir was invited to give a talk at the IMAGES club in The Hague, which has been in existence since 1984. Netherlands. 22nd June 2011
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![London hosted an event organized by the ASUUK, a new society constituted of Afghan academics in the United Kingdom and the Atlantic Council.
The audience comprised of journalists, aid workers and former UN delegates, what they all shared in common were the determination for the progression of Afghanistan.
The traditional recital from the Quaran was led by the president of the ASUUK, Shah Mahmood, before he handed over the podium to Max Baring.
He (Max) condemned the current structure of aid agencies primarily due to their lack of accountability to the expenditure of funds, stating that the “aid community is in a misty area” and that “unless we have a clear vision we will continue to see deaths."
The alternative proposed has been heavily backed by the presidential candidate Ashraf Ghani. It suggests an overhaul of aid development programs that would suppress Capitol Hill and thus avoid their hefty salaries that can instead be attributed to the areas affected.
Mr Baring went on to state that currently out of every dollar of aid money 10-20 cents is spent on the projects; the rest is tied up in diplomatic and bureaucratic channels. At this point the members of the audience especially the former aid workers nod and murmur in agreement.
The question then poised by Ashraf Ghani via video link in Kabul
“Where are their [the Aid Agencies] reports to the public?”
He went on to criticize the pork barrels politics of the aid sector and private security contractors devised from Capitol Hill.
A common situation whereby illogical projects are agreed upon such as “wells built in areas that are already dry” (Clare Lockhart)
Contractors receive far more in wages than that which could be credited to workers from the local communities; this would solve their alienation as well as their impoverished situation.
Furthermore, to ensure the safety of the contractors security is arranged appropriating unnecessary expenses.
Projects are often not finished as Ghani reiterates:
“they can rob and get away with it”
The Presidential candidate reiterated his manifesto for villagers to devise a local de-centralized government chaired by a elected leader. It is their autonomous decision as to the salaries of the workers and the projects initiated but a minimum wage must be set, if neither of these agreements are met the villages aid will cease.
In addition Dr Ghani has a 10 year plan of innovative methods, one of them is to use wi-fi technology as the main medium of education for youngsters another is to have a purely hydro electric source of energy.
In articulate English he stated that he has “no desire for power, it is merely a means for one to change the playing field for our children and women.”
The second phase of his speech was in his native Pashto which pleased much of the crowd, there was a distinct difference in his tone, his rhetoric now passionate and his voice bellowed throughout the central London meeting room. He spoke of preserving the cultural identity of Afghans, condemned his fellow candidates that are resorting to ethnic identities to marginalize the voters and commended the fallen heroes of Afghanistan that had fought for their country.
By now the audience was on their feet cheering his name and shouting “long live Afghanistan”.
Finally in Farsi Dr Ghani proposed a vision that every child would have the opportunity to become a millionaire and for every boy and girl to have the freedom to be educated.
Ashraf Ghani worked as senior anthropologist for several years at the World Bank and then took up the position of Special Advisor to the UN after the fall of the Taliban.
Clare Lockhart was the Director of ISE (Institute for State Effectiveness) and co-author, with Ashraf Ghani, of Fixing Failed States. She was a member of the negotiating team for the Bonn Agreement and lived in Kabul as Adviser to the UN and Afghan Government between 2002 and 2005.
Max Baring is a documentary maker and keen supporter of the National Solidarity Program.](http://static0.demotix.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/a_crop_medium_aspect/100-4/photos/122244.jpg "London hosted an event organized by the ASUUK, a new society constituted of Afghan academics in the United Kingdom and the Atlantic Council.
The audience comprised of journalists, aid workers and former UN delegates, what they all shared in common were the determination for the progression of Afghanistan.
The traditional recital from the Quaran was led by the president of the ASUUK, Shah Mahmood, before he handed over the podium to Max Baring.
He (Max) condemned the current structure of aid agencies primarily due to their lack of accountability to the expenditure of funds, stating that the “aid community is in a misty area” and that “unless we have a clear vision we will continue to see deaths.\"
The alternative proposed has been heavily backed by the presidential candidate Ashraf Ghani. It suggests an overhaul of aid development programs that would suppress Capitol Hill and thus avoid their hefty salaries that can instead be attributed to the areas affected.
Mr Baring went on to state that currently out of every dollar of aid money 10-20 cents is spent on the projects; the rest is tied up in diplomatic and bureaucratic channels. At this point the members of the audience especially the former aid workers nod and murmur in agreement.
The question then poised by Ashraf Ghani via video link in Kabul
“Where are their [the Aid Agencies] reports to the public?”
He went on to criticize the pork barrels politics of the aid sector and private security contractors devised from Capitol Hill.
A common situation whereby illogical projects are agreed upon such as “wells built in areas that are already dry” (Clare Lockhart)
Contractors receive far more in wages than that which could be credited to workers from the local communities; this would solve their alienation as well as their impoverished situation.
Furthermore, to ensure the safety of the contractors security is arranged appropriating unnecessary expenses.
Projects are often not finished as Ghani reiterates:
“they can rob and get away with it”
The Presidential candidate reiterated his manifesto for villagers to devise a local de-centralized government chaired by a elected leader. It is their autonomous decision as to the salaries of the workers and the projects initiated but a minimum wage must be set, if neither of these agreements are met the villages aid will cease.
In addition Dr Ghani has a 10 year plan of innovative methods, one of them is to use wi-fi technology as the main medium of education for youngsters another is to have a purely hydro electric source of energy.
In articulate English he stated that he has “no desire for power, it is merely a means for one to change the playing field for our children and women.”
The second phase of his speech was in his native Pashto which pleased much of the crowd, there was a distinct difference in his tone, his rhetoric now passionate and his voice bellowed throughout the central London meeting room. He spoke of preserving the cultural identity of Afghans, condemned his fellow candidates that are resorting to ethnic identities to marginalize the voters and commended the fallen heroes of Afghanistan that had fought for their country.
By now the audience was on their feet cheering his name and shouting “long live Afghanistan”.
Finally in Farsi Dr Ghani proposed a vision that every child would have the opportunity to become a millionaire and for every boy and girl to have the freedom to be educated.
Ashraf Ghani worked as senior anthropologist for several years at the World Bank and then took up the position of Special Advisor to the UN after the fall of the Taliban.
Clare Lockhart was the Director of ISE (Institute for State Effectiveness) and co-author, with Ashraf Ghani, of Fixing Failed States. She was a member of the negotiating team for the Bonn Agreement and lived in Kabul as Adviser to the UN and Afghan Government between 2002 and 2005.
Max Baring is a documentary maker and keen supporter of the National Solidarity Program.")
by Wais BAfghan Presidential Candidate Dr Ashraf Ghani delivers a speech to Clare Lockhart (U.N), Max Baring (film-maker and NSP) and a delegation of Afghan academics in London via video up link. 13th August 2
