Study: Afghans View Security as Deteriorating

KABUL (March 19, 2009) - Ordinary Afghans are losing hope. New research shows that 63 percent of Afghans believe that the security situation in their communities has worsened since 2004. Four years ago, 75 percent believed it had improved. The current mandate for the U.N. Assistance Mission to Afghanistan, which expires Monday, is up for review. A consortium of humanitarian groups, including CARE, asks the members of the United Nations to increase the focus on security for the Afghan population.

According to the new research report, Fight Poverty to End Insecurity: Afghan Perceptions of Insecurity, from the Afghan Human Rights Research and Advocacy Consortium (HRRAC), Afghans are losing faith in disarmament initiatives and have little trust in the capabilities of the police. Poverty and U.N. employment are identified as the driving forces behind insecurity and they call for these issues to be addressed as a priority.

"The U.N. must focus more on ensuring security in Afghan communities," says Lex Kassenberg, HRRAC board member and country director for CARE in Afghanistan. "We need to recognize that the spreading insecurity is not only affecting security forces, aid organizations and government workers. The average Afghan is also threatened."

The study conducted by HRRAC in six provinces of Afghanistan, shows that the majority of people interviewed believe there has been a general rise in crime and violence over the past four years.

"Suicide bombings and war fighting are not the only problems that are haunting the Afghan population," says board member Mudasser Hussain Siddiqui, manager of policy, research and advocacy for ActionAid in Afghanistan.

Kidnappings for ransom, armed robbery and theft complicate the lives of ordinary citizens. "These stories rarely make the headlines in international media, but are very real to Afghans who are trying to go on with their lives," Siddiqui adds.  

In light of the renewal of the U.N. Mission to Afghanistan's mandate, HRRAC asks members of the United Nations to increase focus on the security for the Afghan population, assisting the Afghan government in:

• Addressing poverty and U.N.employment, which according to HRRAC research are what the Afghan people believe to be the root causes of insecurity.
• Carrying out a proper security sector reform, which focuses training of the Afghan National Police on civilian tasks that will improve security in Afghan communities.
• Ensuring that an independent revision of disarmament programs such as Disarmament, Demobilization, Reintegration (DDR) and Disarmament of Illegal Armed Groups (DIAG) takes place and that these disarmament programs are implemented in a tougher way. 

About HRRAC: The Human Rights Research and Advocacy Consortium (HRRAC) consists of the following national and international members: Save the Children, CARE, Action Aid, Oxfam, Swedish Committee for Afghanistan, Agency for Technical Cooperation and Development (ACTED), Afghanistan Development Association (ADA), Afghan Civil Society Forum (ACSF), Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC), Afghan Women's Education Center (AWEC), Agency Coordinating Body For Afghan Relief  (ACBAR) and Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit (AREU).