NO.１８４
2002.３.13
In the first place, the international community quickly came to terms, which was a rare occasion, and applied the military sanctions successfully, and then started the rehabilitation support as the second step. The military sanctions against the Taliban, who were regarded as acting and supporting the September 11 terrorist attacks, almost achieved their purpose and talks for support of the rehabilitation of Afghanistan soon began. This speedy success was due to the international leaders' determination to prevent terrorism from spreading, which prompted their acceptance of the use of military forces by U.S., U.K., NATO and others and resulted in the cooperation and support from the international organizations and many nations. Also contributing to the success was the existence of some military forces against the Taliban within Afghanistan, overwhelming difference of the military powers, and the small size of the ground forces kept in consideration of the national feelings of Afghans. In the second place, Japan responded to the situation very quickly, preparing for both the practical cooperative activities and the conference to support rehabilitation. The first cooperation was to dispatch the Maritime Self Defense Forces overseas. In Japan some opposed their dispatch, arguing that the soldiers, although they are only on supply missions, might be involved in actual battles and it might constitute a breach of the Constitution. The Government, however, was determined this time to make some visible contribution unlike at the time of the Gulf War and quickly decided to dispatch battleships of the Self Defense Forces to the Indian Ocean. The Government also made publicly known its strong wish to play a responsible role in supporting the rehabilitation of Afghanistan while the United States and some other nations are engaged in battle. They received the public support and thus could make the quick preparations. Another luck we had was Ms. Sadako Ogata, who, having served as the UN High Commissioner for Refugees during the internal wars in Africa and in Yugoslavia and Kosovo, established high international reputation already. Japan was very lucky to have her as a chair side by side with the US Secretary of State and the Representative of Japan. In the third place, the Conference on its second day came up with the concrete figures of contribution by each nation. In this kind of conferences, it happened very often that each nation supports the idea in general but stays ambiguous in terms of concrete amount of its contribution or at least announces it very late. In contrast, not only the major nations but also some developing nations announced the figures of their contribution while the session was still on. The end result was $1.8 billion for this year and $4.5 billion for the entire period of 5 years. Also people's attention was drawn to unprecedented amount of contribution by developing nations such as $500 million by Iran, $100 million by India, and $100 million by Pakistan. We are happy to learn that each nation is now paying attention to Afghanistan, but we also have to watch ourselves against ambitiously trying to maintain influence on that nation. In the fourth place, the National Federation of UNESCO Associations in Japan acted speedily with the excellent programs. Perhaps remembering the destruction of the stone Buddha by the Taliban, they immediately issued a statement to declare its policy, and, in connection with the Conference to Support Rehabilitation, they made a special fund-raising campaign near the end of the year. And its director-general went to Pakistan together with two other members. They offered \2 million to the “Peshawar Society,” a Japanese NGO, for its medical activities and made the necessary preparations for building 5 “Terakoya” classrooms after making a survey on educational conditions of refugees and consulting with those connected with their education. In view of these movements by the Government and the Federation, how the Meguro UNESCO Association should think and act? Firstly, we can promote o ur understanding of Afghanistan and Islam. Some of our young members have already started their learning programs of Afghanistan and Islam, but shouldn't the Association initiate its own learning programs officially? Secondly, we can perhaps start a special fund raising campaign for the Afghan refugees besides the usual campaign of collecting unused post cards. Thirdly, we can assist Terakoya activities in the refugee camps as a “visible contribution.” Depending on the local conditions and the preparations by the Federation, we could assemble volunteers and send them to the Terakoya sites this summer. We need to start thinking about this dispatch program and, if possible, financial aids to these participants. What the Meguro UNESCO Association needs is “deeper understanding” of the Afghan problems and “active participation” in the assistance of rehabilitation. |