prioritization and implementation plan - Cooperazione Italiana allo ...

ministries and sub-national administration with
support from the international community.
3. CN will initiate a positive new beginning with
the national review of the NDCS before the end of
2010, in accordance with Afghan law. Line
ministries, sub-national administration, civil
society, and the private sector must collectively
join this review with a high level of commitment
and dedication, as the NDCS is integral to
Afghanistan’s broader stabilization efforts.
4. CN must be mainstreamed into National Priority
Programs implemented at all levels of Afghan
governance. These programs should be aligned
with the following CN strategic priorities of the
Government of Afghanistan: (i) Stepping up the
effective disruption of the drugs trade by targeting
traffickers and their supporters; (ii) Facilitating the
strengthening and diversification of legal rural
livelihoods, with a particular focus on the needs of
communities that abandon illicit cultivation; (iii)
Ensuring the reduction of demand for illicit drugs
and the treatment of drug users; and (iv) In support
of these three priorities, ensuring the required
strengthening of institutions both at the central
Government level and in the provinces.
5. To ensure that NDCS policies and CN crosscutting
initiatives are integrated into priority
programs for all Government Clusters, the
Ministry of Counter-Narcotics proposes that a CN
budget allocation be provided to National Priority
Programs. This allocation would enable CN
activities to be made available in the respective
National Priority Programs, subject to MoF
implementation and monitoring guidelines. This
allocation will also facilitate CN mainstreaming as
a cross-cutting strategy, while remaining an
Afghan-owned effort with Afghan officials taking
the lead for program responsibility.
Some expected CN results from the strategy
adopted by the CN new beginning initiative:
• Tangible and sustainable steps towards
dismantling the poppy economy that affects
larger stabilization efforts and broad-based
development in Afghanistan.
• The sustained willingness of rural farmers and
communities not to revert to or engage in illicit
poppy activities through the provision of: (i)
alternative livelihood options from farm to
markets, (ii) appropriate human and physical
infrastructure, and (iii) access to credit and
land.
• Improvements in Afghanistan’s security and
the rule of law through the establishment of
transparent, clean, effective and accountable
CN-related governance mechanisms with
achievable targets.
Finally, the imperative for a long-term CN
commitment, rather than short-term CN
expediency, should be discussed and agreed upon.
There is an asymmetry between the expectations of
Afghanistan and those of the international
community for rapid results to address the illegal
opium economy. But the reality is a timeline that
may take one to two decades before the opium
economy diminishes dramatically. Effective CN
efforts require inevitably a combination of the
Government’s Five Clusters in action – with the
proper sequencing and coordination of their new
generation of National Priority Programs. This will
take considerable time, as well as sustained
financial commitment and political will.
Collectively, let us start the counter-narcotics new
beginning today.
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