Chief Executive Officer Abdullah Abdullah on Monday called for complete support of NGOs operating in Afghanistan, saying the non-government organizations have played a critical role in helping to rebuild the country.

Addressing delegates at the ceremony, in a closing speech, Abdullah paid tribute to NGO workers who have made sacrifices in terms of helping Afghans across the country.  

He said government takes the issue of safety and security of NGOs seriously and noted that EU nations have contributed enormously to enabling NGOs to work in Afghanistan.

Abdullah also said that the ministry of economy in cooperation with NGOs must define a strategy that can help implement and monitor NGO projects.

“The national unity government supports you,” said Abdullah.

The conference was held to evaluate NGOs work in Afghanistan in terms of helping with economic development and poverty alleviation.

The lack of coordination between government-run projects and NGOs, the lack of balance in projects, the rising bureaucracy in non-government organizations, corruption, nepotism and lack of accountability in some government institutions were identified as major challenges.

Meanwhile the minister of economy Mustafa Mastoor said that poverty and unemployment continues to remain a major challenge in the country. He said that NGOs can play a key role in helping to overcome these challenges.

“We have to pay tribute to the past role of NGOs to encourage them to be even more efficient in future, making Afghanistan an even more NGO friendly country,” said UNAMA representative Toby Lanzer.

Based on statistics, last year NGOs invested over $850 million USD in different fields in Afghanistan.