TRANSCRIPT

George Alagiah, Presenter:  Well, joining me now from our central London studio is Kai Eide, UN special representative to Afghanistan.

Thank you for being with us.  I don't know how much of that you heard from our correspondent in Kabul, but it... it gives... a very... pretty good description of what you're up against.

Kai Eide, United Nations Special Representative to Afghanistan:  It's a very challenging environment, no doubt, on the security side and with regard to development on the country, and also with regard to bringing about a government, not only in the central... in Kabul, but in the provinces, in the districts, that can do the job.  So no doubt we have years ahead of us with very hard work along all these dimensions.

GA:  Hard work you say but, in a sense, I mean, it's been hard work for the... for many years now.  What is it that you're going to do that's different to your predecessor, Tom Koenigs?

KE:  I think my... my first job is really to see to it that the international communities are well enough coordinated, and we see that we have the security dimension, the development dimension and also the governance dimension that have to be brought together in a more coherent way.  That, I think, is something that we have missed and we really have to make a serious effort now.

GA:  Do you... you think that's been a problem, do you?  You think... the international communities' efforts have been sort in... in compartments?

KE:  Yes, I... I think to... to a large extent, unfortunately.  And when we look at the development side, we see that much too much of the money that they actually allocated by governments end up in the donor countries themselves.  Much of it is spent outside the plans and priorities of the Afghan Government, and we cannot continue like this.  We have to have a more coherent plan and spend the money in an optimal fashion to get the most out of it.

GA:  And... have the international community... has the international community agreed to that?  Because, after all, a lot of countries rather like the money coming back to their own purses.

KE:  I... I feel that, over the last month or so, there is much more of a determination in the international community to see to it that we spend our resources well.  So my question now will, of course, be to various governments: 'What are you ready to do differently from what you've done in the past?'  I think that is really the crucial question to ask.

GA:  But... it's a bit late to be asking that question; you should have got the answer before you went out to Afghanistan, surely.

KE:  I've been... I've been in the job for 10 days now, and I'm starting to travel around to ask precisely that question, and I do expect that the commitment expressed by governments over the last month will now be translated into a more coherent policy.

GA:  Well, let's make no mistake.  I mean, you talk about a challenging environment.  Let me quote to you the European Council on Foreign Relations: they say, in their latest report, "that defeat in Afghanistan is now a realistic prospect."

KE:  I think that we are in fact making progress.  We are making progress on the security side.  It is challenging, yes, but we are making progress.  I think much of what we see today of security incident is... crime related.  That means, also, that we have to devote much more time to developing the Afghan Police - and we just heard about the incident that took place in Kandahar , which shows also how much we need to build up the police, in terms of equipment, in terms of training.  We need to build up the justice sector, and we need to build up the government... governance sector.  Much more has to be done, with regard to putting the right people in as governors, police chiefs, etcetera.  And... and much is being done right now and I think we will see progress.

GA:  [Interrupting] Yes, but... let me just interrupt.  How... how can you call an attack by the Taliban 'crime related'?  I mean, I suppose it is crime of sorts but it's actually an insurgency that you're up against.

KE:  No, yeah.  No, I did not call that particular incident a crime related incident.  Absolutely not.  These are people who do not want to see progress.  But I think also, if you look at the total number of security incidents, more of it today than in the past is related to crime.  But both come down to the same; we have to build up the police and the justice sector.

GA:  Forgive me for asking this but does it worry you that, in a sense, you're second choice?  Because I understand... first choice for this job was Lord Paddy Ashdown.

KE:  I hear what you say.  It doesn't worry me.  I have the tools that I do think I will need.  I have the confidence of the Afghan Government, I have the confidence of the international community, and I have a sharper mandate.

GA:  Okay, and how long do you give yourself to... to first to be seeing some change in Afghanistan?

KE:  As I said, I started 10 days ago.  I think we've seen that elsewhere also that... these are long-term processes.  We have [word unclear] set things on the right path, with regard to development and the governance, and then we'll see.  I do hope that we can see progress soon.  There's a very important conference coming up in Paris on the 12^th of June, and by then I expect to see a clear commitment from the international community to move in the direction that I just referred to.

GA:  Kai Eide, thanks very much for being with us.

KE:  Thank you.

Ends