Asia

In July 2011, ISAF officially handed over seven areas to Afghan National Security Forces, beginning a process to gradually transition all security responsibility from international to Afghan leadership. Drawing on The Liaison Office’s experience in the region Loya Paktia, this paper examines the shortcomings of a transition strategy that focuses on security, while ignoring important social and political factors that could undermine the strategy. 

At present, Afghanistan has turned into a focal point of agreements between Western and Eastern countries. These Strategic Partnership Agreements (SPAs) that Afghanistan has signed with many countries of the world, including Germany are deemed as vital achievement for the country.

The Kabul Documenta 13 has opened its gates on June 20th, to the Afghan public, preceded by an official opening ceremony that was attended by the Goethe Institute Afghanistan, donors, diplomats, a delegation of the Documenta 13 and, last not least, the artists themselves.

6th June 2012, youth policy in the biggest province of Pakistan is launched officially-- Thanks to Bargad Organization for the youth development, a long time of Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung.

The National Consultation aimed not only at reviewing the global discourse on green economy and ongoing negotiations on the outcome of the Rio+20 Summit but also examining the relevance of this concept to Pakistan. Moreover, the objective of the National Consultation was to review the potential roles and contributions of key stakeholders to promote Green economy in Pakistan.

“Sometimes it seems as if it was all part of a big plan”, says Sulayman Qardesh. He smiles at his band colleague Siddique Ahmad. Number three, drummer Mujtaba Habibi, couldn’t come for our interview. It was a perfect match when these three boys of different origin happened to meet and found Afghanistan’s first indie rock band, the “Kabul Dreams”.

The security needs of Afghan men and women differ. Whereas men bear the brunt of the direct impacts of conflict, women disproportionately suffer from the indirect effects such as increased levels of domestic violence, decreased access to health care and poverty. Due to this difference in security needs, gender must be taken into account when evaluating the relationship between citizens and the Afghan National Police (ANP).

Six months have passed since Yingluck Shinawatra was elected to the first female Prime Minister in Thailand. Since her election she provoked a variety of debates, which are connected to her femininity. 

What has always struck me about Pakistan and the Pakistani people is their ability to generate political passion despite so many disappointments. In other places, hope is a marathon runner who drops dead the moment she reaches her goal - although the real test begins much later. In Pakistan, despite the fact that no politician seems to have ever delivered on the promises he or she made, hope refuses to die. 

By 2014, all international troops withdraw from Afghanistan. Which future perspectives exist for the country? Will the civil commitment continued beyond? These questions were pursued at the conference “10 Years after Petersberg: Where does Afghanistan stand today?”