Ghani says Geneva Conference will determine Afghanistan’s future

President Ashraf Ghani said on Sunday that the Geneva pledging conference will influence Afghanistan’s future development and path to self-reliance and peace.

“We will gather virtually tomorrow for the 2020 Geneva Conference on Afghanistan. We aim to realize the decades’ hopes of all Afghans for a peaceful and prosperous Afghanistan, said Ghani.

“The outcomes of this pledging conference will heavily influence the country’s future development and our path towards self-reliance and peace.”

Based on the official schedule, the pledging conference will run over two days from Monday and bring together 70 countries and international organizations – all of whom will attend the summit virtually.

The conference will focus on three key issues: financial support for the Afghan government; preserving the achievements of the past 19 years and support for the Afghan peace process.

Questions have been raised however on whether the Afghan government has implemented its commitment from the 2018 Geneva conference.

“We want to say that people are concerned about governance in Afghanistan. People do not trust either side,” said Rafi Azizi, the head of a civil society organization.

Afghan delegates meanwhile said they will try their best to convince the international community to continue its support.

However, the international community had set 10 conditions for financial support to Afghanistan.

“The Islamic Republic of Afghanistan implemented all conditions set by the international community. We are ready to attend the conference,” said Latif Mahmood, head of government media and information center.

Some participants say that it is a key opportunity for the international community to support Afghanistan but securing more funding will be difficult because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Janne Taalas, Special Envoy of Finland for the Geneva Conference 2020, said in an interview with VOA that some countries will review their aid to Afghanistan due to the spread of coronavirus.