Thank you Mr. President, for providing my delegation the opportunity to participate in this open debate.

The Netherlands fully supports the statement made this morning by Slovenia on behalf of the European Union, including the appreciation for USG Guéhenno’s introduction and the warm words of welcome for SRSG Eide. In light of our substantial contribution, both military and in the field of development, we would like to make a few additional remarks: on Afghan leadership and the role of the international community.

Almost every week, think-tanks and NGO’s produce reports about Afghanistan and the recommended course of action for the international community. These reports sometimes overlook the fact that the primary responsibility for improving the destiny of the Afghan people indeed lies with the government of president Karzai.

We praise the great efforts the government of Afghanistan has made to bring stability and development to its people. For instance, this month the Afghan government will be putting the finishing touches to the Afghanistan National Development Strategy. In our view all international actors should bring their aid efforts to the greatest extent possible into the framework of this Afghan led strategy. Increasingly the Afghans will need to supply the sheet music for the many voices of the international choir.

Afghan ownership also means Afghan leadership. The Afghan authorities will increasingly have to provide public services themselves, and the Afghan army will have to provide security on its own, while the police maintain public order. The Afghans will also have to be seriously fighting corruption and the drug trade, both of which are undermining the state. We also also are looking forward to progress on Transitional Justice.

These changes will not happen overnight. We from our side will support them wherever we can.

As far as the difficult situation in Southern Afghanistan is concerned, we believe that the Government of Afghanistan needs to secure an enduring political settlement. This will require an effective stabilisation programme which supports outreach efforts to reconcile Afghan communities and disenfranchised groups and bring them into the political process. Ordinary Afghans have to be shown that progress is being made on the issues which affect their daily lives. To support this process the Afghan Army and ISAF will need to maintain sufficient military pressure on the insurgency.

Mr. President,

Let me also say a few words about the international community. The comprehensive report by the Secretary-General of 6 March rightly underscores the synergy in objectives between the UN, NATO, the EU and bilateral donors and we hope a renewed UNAMA-resolution will build on this by further strengthening the centrality of the UN. To be more precise: as long as Afghan institutions need international support to deal with development and governance, the United Nations need to take a lead role in coordinating international efforts. We welcome the high priority Mr. Guéhenno has attached to cooperation between UN and NATO in Afghanistan symbolized by the presence of the SG in Bucharest and we also welcome the ongoing consideration of expanding UNAMA’s presence in the country.

To ask the UN to take the lead means that we, the international community, must be prepared to give the UN the authority to direct international efforts and that all other actors need to be willing to be coordinated. We very much are looking forward to Ambassador Eide taking up his functions as the new UN Special Representative for Afghanistan. We trust he will play a pivotal role in better coordinating reconstruction and development programmes on the ground. Mr. President,

Our goal should be to put our national hobbyhorses out to pasture and replace them with a strong multilateral engagement lead by the UN. The provincial reconstruction team -a provincial military base used as a platform for aid efforts for lack of an alternative- was for instance always intended to be a temporary solution. The Taliban and drug traffickers are, however, not confined by provincial borders; nor indeed are poverty and illiteracy. Thus, one of the PRTs’ main duties should be to make themselves redundant as quickly as possible, so that the UNAMA as well as the UN Funds and Programmes and last but not least Afghan local government can take on this role. Against this background we would like to encourage the Security Council and the Secretary-General to pursue as a matter of urgency a strengthened role for the UN, in all of the country, and especially in the troubled south.

Thank you Mr. President