All the countries present in Afghanistan have suddenly come out in favour of a solution that is not solely military but one that must also be based on the country’s economic and social development. None has actually changed its position, however, and reduced its military footprint or made any significant increase in its civil commitment.

For all the international conferences on reconstruction assistance, economic, social and cultural development plans, promised billions, plans to replace opium poppy with alternative crops and the commitment to crack down on producers and traffickers, poverty and malnutrition are still rife and nothing is being done to help an essentially peasant society make a decent living from agriculture.

There are frequent accusations of corruption, and international audits reveal that more than half of the promised financial aid goes on security, while most of the other half subsidises non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and pays the wages of the international regulators and experts who manage and administer the aid programmes on the ground. Even though these activities directly or indirectly serve to fuel the country’s economy, there have not been enough tangible achievements to meet the expectations and needs of the population.