Afghanistan’s Future In Focus At Frankfurt Conference
A two-day conference bringing together dozens of Afghan political figures and academics opened Saturday in Frankfurt, focusing on debates over Afghanistan’s future.
A two-day conference bringing together dozens of Afghan political figures and academics opened Saturday in Frankfurt, focusing on debates over Afghanistan’s future.
The conference, titled Future Outlook: Political System, Social Justice, Sustainable Development, and Afghanistan’s Position in the Region and the World, aims to assess the country’s current situation and explore possible scenarios for the years ahead.
Organisers said the gathering is intended to create space for dialogue and academic reflection on Afghanistan’s political system, social justice, sustainable development, and its regional and global role.
Masoud Tarashtawal, one of the organisers, told Afghanistan International that the main objective is to provide an in-depth, academic and expert analysis of the most pressing challenges and prospects facing Afghanistan. He said he hoped the outcomes would serve as a reference point for future state-building and nation-building efforts.
Tarashtawal stressed that decisions about Afghanistan’s future must be shaped through dialogue and acceptance of differing views. He said the expression of the people’s will through elections is fundamental and that, without elections and a constitution, it is not possible to speak of a functioning state.
He added that a proposed plan for Afghanistan’s future would be presented at the conclusion of the conference, noting that imported models had failed to resolve the country’s challenges in the past and that any new approach must be grounded in Afghanistan’s realities.
Also addressing the conference, Mohammad Asif Zaeefi, head of the Afghanistan Trust and Stability movement, said the main purpose of the meeting was to reach a shared understanding of past failures, assess the current situation and chart a course for Afghanistan’s future.
