Statement of Dutch NGOs on theProvincial Reconstruction Team in Uruzgan

In Afghanistan civilians and aid workers are ever more frequently the victims of the resurging violence. Schools and health clinics, for instance, are attacked with the result that teaching and medical staff can no longer do their job. This is just an example of the alarming situation at the moment. In a press statement on June 1, 2006 the Afghan NGO network ACBAR said that 13 staff members of NGOs had been killed in the previous six weeks. During the riots that erupted in the Afghan capital Kabul on May 31 the Afghan population vented its anger by attacking, and plundering twenty buildings of UN organisations and NGOs, and – in some instances – setting fire to them.

Although we regard ISAF in principle as a potential stimulus for peace, security and development in Afghanistan – because we seek the improvement of the situation for the people of Uruzgan and for our partners – we observe that the actions of ISAF military personnel can have an undesirable effect on the security of civilians and aid workers when the distinctions in the roles of aid workers and military personnel become blurred. This is most certainly the case when intervention troops are mandated under Chapter VII of the UN Charter, which is the case for the ISAF mission. In this we follow the guidelines as drawn up by the Steering Committee on Humanitarian Response (SCHR)[1], which advise reticence in establishing contacts with UN military forces mandated under Chapter VII. This because there is a chance that UN forces mandated under Chapter VII become a party in the conflict. On the eve of the Dutch ISAF mission to Uruzgan becoming operational we, therefore, plead that the following recommendations are taken to heart in executing the mission.

• The direct association of (international) NGOs with the ISAF mission can damage the perception of aid workers as impartial and can contribute to (I)NGOs becoming a target. In this statement we urge again for a clear separation of the ISAF mission vis-à-vis the OEF mission. Establishing stability for the purpose of reconstruction is essentially different from ‘hunting terrorists'. In this light military public relations and communication work must respect the distinction between military personnel and aid workers.
• We only see a value added for ISAF in Uruzgan when the mission does not become a ‘fighting mission' but genuinely ensures an improvement in the basic conditions that make reconstruction possible.
• In any case, we urge that reconstruction activities create conditions and focus primarily on strengthening local/regional governance and the building of the Afghan security apparatus. One can think of training the police and the Afghan National Army, of supporting the authorities in disarming armed groups and of constructing police posts.
• The Provincial Reconstruction Team should concentrate on activities related to security, such as bringing stability and training the police. Different evaluations have demonstrated that military personnel can affect good results in their own field of expertise – security – whilst the implementation of reconstruction and development activities sometimes lacks effectiveness, cost efficiency, accountability and sustainability. In that sense it is important that the activities undertaken by the PRT are clearly linked to creating an ‘enabling environment' in which our Afghan partners can do their work better. The PRT should therefore – in addition to reforming the security apparatus – explicitly engage in protecting Afghan citizens and not exclusively in the force protection of own troops. The so-called Dutch Approach is well placed to achieve objectives thus formulated.
• PRT activities must be visibly distinguishable from humanitarian aid and development activities. Military personnel in civilian clothing or using white vehicles that resemble those of humanitarian or development organisations confuse the local population and raise the security risks for aid workers. Any exchanges between NGOs and the PRT should therefore take place on ‘neutral' territory in Kabul. Every association with whatever party can seriously damage the operations of our organisations and our partners.
• The Dutch government has the important task to ensure that NGOs, journalists and the general public stay well informed, whereby the groups mentioned should be prevented from becoming solely reliant on the information provided by the department of Defence. For our work it is crucial that we have access to independent, reliable up-to-date information. To this end the undersigned NGOs are considering the appointment of their own Communications Officer in Kabul.

The text above was drawn up by Cordaid, Healthnet TPO, ICCO/Church in Action, Oxfam Novib, Save the Children Netherlands and ZOA Refugee Care..

[1] Several international NGOs, including the International Red Cross and MSF, are affiliated to the SCHR.