October 13, 2001	Saturday	Rajab 25, 1422

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ISLAMABAD, Oct 12: The United Nations and the World Bank have committed support for the reconstruction of Afghanistan.

Speaking at a news conference here on Friday, the UN regional coordinator for Afghanistan, Mike Sacket, said the United Nations and the World Bank were prepared to undertake reconstruction of Afghanistan in various fields, including governance, judiciary, economy, health and education.

In response to a question whether this would be done while the Taliban rule continued to rule the country or after they were ousted, Mr Sacket emphasized the need for a broadbased representative government.

He said:”We clearly have to see which partners we will be working with in a totally new era.”

Any new coalition government should be acceptable to all neighbouring countries and, under Article 21 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, all Afghans must have the right to take part in the running of the country’s affairs, he said.

Mr Sacket said the work for reconstruction of Afghanistan was already under way, with full involvement of the Afghan civil society in the UNDP’s Poverty Eradication and Community Empowerment (PEACE) initiative.

He said that in a number of cities in Afghanistan, PEACE had already established 100 local community “shooras” at the grassroots as a form of local government.

PEACE was a pilot project but could be a beginning for rebuilding the Afghan society, he added.