Finland Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto in an interview with TOLOnews said that the international community is expected to renew its financial cooperation and other commitments to Afghanistan for another four years in the upcoming Geneva Conference on Afghanistan.
He said that a reduction in violence will be one of the conditions for continued international support to Afghanistan in the summit.
“We are encouraging the donors to pledge for the coming four years to make good pledges for that," he said.
The Finnish minister said many countries are expecting to see the result of the ongoing peace efforts in Afghanistan.
"... And particularly important promise is of course to reduce the violence and achieve those goals that had been put in front of us in the peace process,” said Haavisto.
Afghan officials said the government is fully prepared to participate at the conference.
“This time, Afghanistan will partner with the international community on its regular, long-term, self-sufficiency, development programs to gain their support for the next five years,” said Sediq Sediqqi, spokesman for President Ashraf Ghani.
“Geneva Conference on Afghanistan is important and Finland has got a vital role in co-hosting the conference,” said Attaullah Khan Atta, the Human Rights Research and Advocacy Consortium (HRRAC).
The 2020 Afghanistan Conference is the last pledging conference of the Transformation Decade (2015-24), which aims to take the country towards self-reliance, and is expected to renew international community and Afghan commitments to the development and stability of Afghanistan up to 2024, said a statement by event organizers.
The main conference will take place on November 24, with side events to discuss key challenges and accomplishments for Afghanistan occurring the day before.
Afghan president Ashraf Ghani and Abdullah Abdullah, the head of High Council of National Reconciliation are expected to patriciate at the conference.
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