After almost 20 years of war, the first direct peace talks between the Taliban and the Afghan Government began in Doha, Qatar in September 2020. In hopes that a historical peace agreement would be decided before the US troops withdrawal. However soon after, negotiation between the parties were stalled for months, unknowing what the outcome could be for Afghanistan, and its people.

During the same time, the Next Century Foundation with the Kabul Institute for Peace began to host a series of working meetings which discussed the current peace process and the role of internal and international actors. As a result of these successful meetings, a special joint report was prepared and was submitted to the G7 nations prior to the G7 Summit in Cornwall, UK.

The paper outlines key issues in the current peace process, the significance of community engagement in Afghan politics and recommends how the international community should view Afghanistan. In brief these recommendations are (in no particular order of priority):

1. The appointment of an aid supremo of impeccable character to oversee international aid delivered to the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan. The delivery of aid channelled through the government of Afghanistan (as opposed to civil society “off budget” aid) to be dependent in some considerable degree on the delivering of continuing stability, justice, women’s rights and democracy in Afghanistan.
2. Afghanistan’s community Jirghas (community councils) should be developed and encouraged by being given an advisory role in the peace process. The presence of Khans (the nominated leaders of community Jirgha and of the higher tier inter-community jirghas) or their representatives at peace negotiations would be constructive. The community Jirghas would feed into Afghanistan’s traditional three tier Jirgha system which could, at Grand (Loya) Jirgha level, also take cognisance of the behaviour of the proposed High Council of Islamic Jurisprudence and nominate representatives to that council. That said, in any case, the convention in Afghanistan is that tradition trumps religion in regard to the de facto practice of decision making in the Jirgha system. Thus the mere existence of a strong parallel Jirgha system will constrain any proposed High Council of Islamic Jurisprudence.
3. We recommend that the international community pressure the Afghan government and the Taliban to introduce a quota of women negotiators from across the rural-urban divide. All negotiating parties must commit to facilitating education for women to university level, access to healthcare and justice. As a signal gesture to indicate international concern we suggest something of the calibre of the invitation of a group of influential Afghan women to stay at Number One Observatory Circle for talks together with US Vice President Kamala Harris. Other world leaders could then follow suit.
4. That a programme of substantial crop-specific agricultural subsidies be instituted in Afghanistan in order to allow farmers to turn a significant profit whilst harvesting legal produce. The funding for this programme should come from wealthier nations, who will themselves benefit directly from the shrinking of Afghanistan’s illicit economy.
5. A long-term financial package remains necessary to continue support the Afghan people that address basic governance related services, basic socio-economic related development needs. In the meantime, the Afghan government must be pressured to strictly adhere to the principles of market-based economy and so ensure a viable business environment to the private sector. In addition, a strong new five-year plan for the economy should be initiated which addresses development issues in Afghanistan. International aid and government investment should be diverted towards key strategic sectors, these being: infrastructure, energy, information and communications technology, and trade in natural resources.

The full report can be read on the link below:

We would love to hear your thoughts and feedback on the report, so please feel free to email any comments to NCFmepp@aol.com.