Embassy of Afghanistan in Japan November 2010 Afghan News · Iran, and Tajikistan’s internet services) and the establishment of national infor-mation center as its main achievements

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Afghan NewsAfghan NewsAfghan News N

ovem

ber

2010 Embassy of Afghanistan in Japan

H.E. President Hamid Karzai addressed a North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) summit in Lisbon, Portugal, expressing the gratitude of the Afghan people for NATO’s key role as a partner in Afghanistan’s enduring strides in democracy, security, and develop-ment. H.E. cited recent developments in realizing the commitment laid forth in continuing to expand upon the Afghan security forces’ capabilities and scope, with the determination to take total responsibility in 2014, as per the declaration of September 6th, 2006 and most recently en-dorsed by the North Atlantic Council on March 1st, 2010. Through a joint declaration signed on Novem-ber 20th by the government of the Islamic Re-public of Afghanistan and NATO on Enduring Partnership, the two sides recognized the global strategic importance of stability and prosperity in Afghanistan and also agreed to work together to enhance each other’s capa-bilities; pursue shared strategies; adapt and overcome differences in cultures of defense, diplomacy, and development; align means to ends; and ensure more efficient resource utili-zation, transparency, and accountability.

Inside this issue:

Latest News Select Pome-

granate facts

The full declaration can be read here: http://www.president.gov.af/Contents/72/Documents/2349/Declara-tion_by_the_Government_of_Afghanistan_and_NATO_in_Lisbon_final.pdf

Wolesi Jirga results confirmed

Results of the Lower House of Parliament (Wolesi Jirga) election have been released. In order effectively institute anti-fraud safe-guards, votes from the September polling went through a rigorous review to verify authenticity led by the Independent Elec-toral Commission. Winners of the 249 seats that were up for vote were chosen by mil-lions of men and women embracing this latest chance to exercise their democratic voices. A list of the results can be found in Dari and Pashto at the following site, with English to come soon. http://www.iec.org.af/results_10/eng/winning_candidates.html

Youth council assembly held in Kabul

A three-day National Youth High Council General Assembly (YHCA), the first nation-

(Continued on page 2)

Latest News Pg.1-4

Interview with Kabul Dreams

Pg. 5

Upcoming Events

Pg. 5

Recipe corner Pg. 6

Language Lesson

Pg. 7

• Eating pome-granates could block the devel-opment of breast cancer and heart disease

• Pomegranates are full of vita-mins A and E, and antioxidants

• More than 40 kinds of pome-granates are found in Af-ghanistan in-cluding the lesser known seedless variety

Joint declaration signals next stage in security

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Afghan News, November 1010

systems to find the most cost effective system for use on a mass scale. Aside from these pilot farms, the money will go into rejuvenating the existing infra-structure.

Orders have been put in place to deal with pollution by integrating silt collec-tors and special washing areas to keep animal waste out of the water supply. Measures have also been taken to avoid environmental devastation. Plans have been made to train locals how to use the new equipment and preserve water.

Eight development schemes completed

in Kabul’s Deh Sabz and Bagrami

districts

The Ministry of Rural Rehabilitation and Development (MRRD), through the Na-tional Solidarity Program, has finished work on eight development schemes in the Deh Sabz and Bagrami districts of Kabul, bringing essential facilities to 1,094 rural families. This includes 6,519 meters of rural roads, 2430 meters of stone and concrete canals, and the dig-ging of ten bore drinking water wells.

Two development schemes innaugu-

rated in Helmand

The completion of two development schemes in Lashkar Gah, Helmand were commemorated by H.E. Jarullah Man-soori, Minister of Rural Rehabilitation and Development (MRRD), in an inau-guration ceremony.

The projects handed over were a new 18-room building, complete with all neces-sary facilities, for the rural rehabilitation and development department of Hel-mand province, and a four-kilometer road for Lashkar Gah.

At the ceremony, H.E. Minister Man-soori commented that his ministry plans to expand its activities to reach further districts and villages. Thus far, 459 de-velopment projects including road, bridge, culvert, safe drinking water pro-jects, canal, retaining walls and water intakes have been completed throughout Helmand province through the national programs of the MRRD. Another 500 development projects are in progress in different provincial districts.

17 new development projects slated

for Kandahar, Urozgan and Nimroz

H.E Jarullah Mansoori, Minister of Rural Rehabilitation and Development, signed into effect 17 development pro-jects contracts for Kandahar, Urozgan, and Nimroz provinces. The projects include drinking water provisions, re-taining walls, roads and culverts, ca-nals, and projects designed to support women. Of the projects mentioned, nine are slated for Kandahar, six for Urozgan, and two for Nimroz. The projects will provide job opportunities for 1,200 local residents and will bene-fit 11,266 families after completion in three months time.

These projects are being supported by the governments of Canada and Hol-land, along with the United Nations Children's Fund (UNECIF), and will be implemented through the National Area Based Development Program of the Ministry of Rural Rehabilitation and Development (MRRD) with sup-port of the Community Development Councils and the District Development Assemblies.

MRRD has implemented more than 5000 development projects in Kanda-har, Nimroz, Helmand and Urozgan provinces, most of which have been completed and handed-over to villag-ers, providing thousands of local peo-ple with essential facilities.

Polio immunization campaign

reaches 7.8 million children

The Ministry of Public Health, with the support of UNICEF, the World Health Organization, and civil society partners has conducted this year's final round of National Immunization Days between November 7th and 9th to im-

(Continued on page 3)

ally, was held at the National Jirga Site in Kabul earlier this month, hosted by H.E. Dr. Sayed Makhdoom Raheen, Minister of Culture, and H.E. Mr. Tai-moor Shah Eshaqzai, Deputy Minister of Youth Affairs. The YHCA is a plat-form for youth to voice their concerns, exchange ideas, and support peace building and development up to the village level. At the assembly, elected members voted on and adopted a resolu-tion which will guide members and sub-national youth councils.

30,000 new jobs in the telecommuni-

cation sector

The Ministry of Communication and Information Technology has announced that the telecommunication sector, one of the main income sources for the na-tion, created more than 30,000 new jobs in the first seven months of this year. As mobile services are expanding stead-ily throughout the country, one of the world's fastest-growing markets for the industry with 80% of Afghanistan now getting telecoms coverage, the ministry cites its fiber optic internet projects (now 80% completed and connecting Afghanistan to Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Iran, and Tajikistan’s internet services) and the establishment of national infor-mation center as its main achievements. Now it is planning to start the distribu-tion of electronic ID cards, and third-generation (3G) telecoms services, or even possibly 4G services, are also ex-pected to begin next year.

New farm water management pro-

gram under development Despite water shortages throughout much of the nation, many experts say that with proper management, national water resources could meet the people’s needs. In order to address this concern, the Ministry of Agriculture will utilize a US$35 million World Bank pledge for a farm water management program over the next three years in order to improve irrigation infrastructure to be more effi-cient and to employ water saving tech-niques.

About fifteen new farms are being de-veloped around the improved irrigation systems to showcase and test the new


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Women" business program. The four are already excellent exam-ples of the growing success of Afghan women in business and all sectors of society. One of the Fatimas, who serves as proof, began a construction business when she was 15. Now 23, she employs 76 engineers and con-struction workers nation-wide, work-ing to help rebuild infrastructure. Masooda, who has a jam and pickling business, employs 23 home-based peo-ple, 20 of whom are women. The Goldman Sachs training helped the women to develop business and marketing skills. Begun in 2008, the program is a five-year initiative to economically empower women. Thus far, it has reached 2,000 women in 21 countries, including Afghanistan, Bra-zil, China, Egypt, India, Nigeria, Peru, Rwanda, and the United States. In Afghanistan, the program is run in conjunction with the Thunderbird School of Global Management. A luncheon gathering was organized in New York, hosted by Daily Beast founder Tina Brown, in honor of the four.

Herati farmers growing saffron

Farmers in Herat are increasingly hav-ing success with saffron through an initiative which provides farmers with free saffron bulbs through coordina-tion with the Italian forces and the local Provincial Reconstruction Team. Herat Province has dry weather and soil conditions which are ideal for the plant, allowing each Herati hectare to yield an average of 10 kg of the spice. One district of Herat now has an asso-ciation of 480 female saffron produc-ers, the Ghoryan Women's Saffron Association, which is the first all-female business venture in the area.

munize 7.8 million children under five years-old against polio. Vitamin A was also administered to roughly seven mil-lion children between 6 and 59 months-old. Due to successful attention this year, there has been a reduction of polio cases from 28 in the first 11 months of 2009 to 19 so far this year — a 32% decrease. In 2010, four rounds of National Immuni-zation Days and four rounds of Sub-National Immunization Days were held.

Second batch of Afghan Local Police to

be deployed in nine districts

The Interior Ministry has begun recruit-ing and training of second batch of com-munity police, or Afghan Local Police (ALP), graduates will be deployed in nine districts. The process has already begun in Kanda-har's Maruf district, Chora and Deh Rawad districts in Uruzgan province, and Kajran in Daykundi province. The ALP will also be deployed in five districts in the provinces of Kunduz, Baghlan, Kunar, Paktia, and Badghis. The number of specially uniformed ALP will be around 10,000. The ALP will hand over any arrested suspects to National Police. The first batch of ALP has already been deployed in eight districts in southern and eastern areas in late September this year.

Bayat Foundation scholarships

awarded for the American University

of Afghanistan

Five students have been awarded scholarships to the American Univer-sity of Afghanistan (AUAF) through the Bayat Foundation NGO. Of the five, two are women and three are men, four are business majors and one is a science major. The Kabul-based Bayat Foundation, which has been active in the construction of hospitals, orphan-ages, mosques, and schools, has do-nated US$100,000 to the AUAF for academic scholarships over the next four years. Each recipient will receive US $5000 towards their tuition and boarding for one year. All recipients must maintain minimum grade point averages of 3.5 or higher.

Children’s Support Center provides

positive opportunities

Women for Afghan Women, run by Manizha Naderi, has created a wel-coming three-story house, the Chil-dren’s Support Center, to provide a haven for youth.

The center presently houses 49 reha-bilitating children. Children balance education and a variety of activities, including using computers, playing badminton, and jumping rope. On the terrace is a small library with chil-dren’s books and a prized nesting bird. There are facilities for watching pro-grams, such as National Geographic’s educational materials.

In addition to the Children’s Support Center, Women for Afghan Women also runs a shelter for abused and aban-doned women and children.

Four Afghan women graduate from

Goldman Sachs’ program

Four Afghan women, named Fatima, Masooda, and Malalai, recently gradu-ated from Goldman Sachs's "10,000

A visiting teacher and students from Miriam H.S. in

Afghanistan visit with Embassy staff. The students

were in Japan on an annual program through Japan Women’s University H.S.

4


The writer for the pilot is the award winning novelist and filmmaker Atiq Rahimi, who sought to create a story telling “the political, economic and cultural story of the different genera-tions through one family.” The remain-ing episodes have been written by young writers, headed by Samiullah Nabizada, and directed by Roya Sa-daat, a young female filmmaker. The plot centers around a man who returned to Afghanistan after spending twenty years in the West. The show deals with modern problems and issues such as the lives of young people and women, as well as love, to show view-ers that these problems are common and can be worked out. The program stars are a varied cast of young men and women, with dramatic and come-dic roles. “The Secrets of This House” has proven to be extremely popular.

Afghan fashion designer impresses

internationally

Internationally renowned Afghan de-signer Zolaikha Shirzad recently held a well-received fashion show in London.

While Afghanistan is well-known for its traditional handcrafts, such as car-pets, Zolaikha hopes to paint a differ-ent image.

Zolaikha’s designs can be purchased in Japan through the following link. http://afghanblogja-pan.blogspot.com/2010/11/zarif-design-clothing-for-sale.html

2010 Asian Games Medal Count

• Silver—Cricket

• Silver—Taekwondo Men’s under 80kg: Nesar Ahmad Ba-have

500 tons of pomegranate set to be

exported

500 tons of pomegranates are to be ex-ported to India and Central Asia after being processed. The Ministry of Agri-culture, Irrigation and Livestock has said the price of each kg of pomegran-ate is less than US$1 locally. This is the season to pick pomegranates in Kholm district of Balkh province and Pomegranate production there has in-creased by 40% this year. With 20,000 acres of the district covered with pomegranate orchards, there are still opportunities for other importers to purchase the fruits as well.

Ancient Buddhist monastary found

north of Kabul

An impressive 5th century Buddhist monastery has been recently discovered north of Kabul. Geological surveys and historical accounts suggest that the monastery and Mes Aynak copper mine, which lies underneath, are only a small part of the natural and cultural abun-dance still hidden. According to archae-ologists at the site, the materials already being excavated would be enough to fill the National Museum. The government

has allotted $2 million for the dig and will likely grant another $5 to 10 mil-lion. Other countries have also promised aid for the excavation.

Bactrain Gold to be displayed at the

British Museum

The next stop on the international tour of artifacts from Kabul Museum will be the British Museum. The exhibition of Bac-trian gold, to be called “Afghanistan, Crossroads of the World,” will last for four months from March 3, 2011.

The collection of gold jewellery, glass-ware, and funeral ornaments includes a delicate, collapsible gold crown and a belt of woven gold.

More than just gold, there is also color-ful and bright Roman and Egyptian glassware, some of it still complete. The pieces show Hellenic, Roman, Persian, and Chinese influences and are remind-ers of Afghanistan's pivotal place on the ancient silk route.

After lying buried for 2,000 years the Bactrian gold was discovered in 1978.

The treasures were later hidden away in Kabul museum and were only rediscov-ered in 2003. They have been touring the world since 2006 and are currently in Bonn, Germany.

National women's cricket team to de-

but

The first national women’s team will compete in an international Twenty20 tournament organized by the Asian Cricket Council next year in Kuwait. More than 100 women play cricket in Kabul and several have attended umpir-ing courses. The Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) plans to organize a local competition to shortlist players for the tournament.

Domestic soap opera debuts on Tolo

TV

Tolo TV has begun broadcasting the first domestic soap opera. Created and produced by Saad Mohseni, one of the founders of Tolo TV, “The Secrets of This House” follows a Kabuli family.


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Upcoming Event

December 7 (11:30 –

15:30)Ikebana Interna-

tional Fair 2010

The Embassy will have a table at Ikebana International’s annual event. There will be an exhibition, a bake sale, and entertainment. The Embassy will join other Embassies and organizations in the bazaar area, selling jewelry, antiques, and other items. Tickets cost 2000 yen and can be acquired by contacting

Mr. Pratt at 03-5574-7611.

Interview with Siddique

Ahmed, bassist of rock

band “Kabul Dreams”

“Kabul Dreams” is an innovative

and highly internationally rele-

vant band in Afghanistan’s ever-

growing music scene.

How did you choose the name Kabul

Dreams?

Well the three band members (Suleman Qardash playing guitars and vocals, Mujtaba Habibi playing drums and myself Siddique Ahmed playing bass) were outside Afghani-stan in Uzbekistan, Iran and Paki-stan respectively, during the war. Back in refuge each of us had a dream to one day play in a rock band in Afghanistan. When we came back to Kabul and met each other, this dream became a reality. Since the venue of this reality was Kabul, we named our band Kabul Dreams. Does your band have a vision or a

message it is trying to give?

There are many visions that we have for the band. This includes visions of each of us for the band's interna-tional success and others. Our mes-sage is of peace, solidarity, brother-hood, friendship. Each of us are from three different backgrounds, three different ethnicities and speak three different languages, yet are bound together with the magic of music which has no barriers. For us our similarities as three young Af-ghans matters more than our ethnic/linguistic differences. Thus our mes-sage is definitely of national unity!

Foreign media have often called

you "Afghanistan's first Rock n'

Roll band." What is your reaction

to that?

We prefer to call ourselves the first Indie Rock Band of Afghanistan. Farhad Darya is a solo artists (not a band) who did some pieces with rock arrangement. There were other artists who did that too. There was even a band in the seventies called "The Stars" who were playing rock music in a way. Rock is a wide genre and there are many sub gen-res. We are a band and we play in-dependent rock with brit-pop, grunge and some other elements. We wouldn't call ourselves the first rock band, but we're definitely the first indie rock band. During the time of the Taliban, mu-

sic was illegal, but it seems well

and alive now – and there are many

styles. How would you describe

Afghan music in general and what

do you think will be the future of

Afghanistan’s music scene?

Traditional Afghan music and Af-ghan pop music are most popular in Afghanistan today. India/Bollywood music is also the most popular among the non-Afghan music. American and other western music is getting popular day by day. Hiphop artists such as Akon are quite popular these days. In the past few years, there has been tre-mendous development in Afghan music and I think in future rock music will also find it's place in Afghanistan. Although a new genre, there are already other bands coming up to add rock music to the scene. Among them is a metal band called District Unknown who are active in Kabul right now. What do you hope for the future of

Kabul Dreams?

We really take our music seriously. For us, Kabul Dreams is not just a rock band who gets international

attention because they are from Afghanistan. We try our best to make good music and get a record label contract for example for our album, play international festivals, make international tours and show to the world another face of Af-ghan youth! Do you have a message for your

future Japanese fans?

Although we are not very familiar with Japan, we definitely know the significance of rock music there going back to the history of bands such as The Beatles. The Japanese audience is always great (we've seen some concerts on TV) and it is one of our dreams to one day play in front of them! Our message for our future Japanese fans is: "We are going to come there and rock you!"

For more on the band, including music videos and contact informa-tion, go to www.kabuldreams.com

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Omar’s Kitchen

Ingredients (serves 2):

Pomegranate jelly

(serves 2)

1. Remove the arils (seed filled jewels) out of the pome-granate to use. You will only use the arils in the recipe.

2. Crush half of the arils to make juice. 3. Pour 30cc of water into a pot. Liquify the gelatin in the

water over a low flame. 4. When gelatin is completely liquified, cool it to under 40

°C. 5. Pour the juice from the arils (made in step 2) into the pot

and stir gently. 6. Add the remaining arils and the gelatin mix in a refrig-

erator-friendly container. 7. Put the container into the refrigerator. The jelly is ready

to eat once it has solidified.

Preparation

• 1 Pomegranate • 1-2 grams of Gelatin • Half a tablespoon of Granulated Sugar • 30cc of Water

For each of our newsletters, Omar offers an authentic Afghan recipe from his kitchen to yours. This month, we de-part from the traditional to show a creative recipe using pomegranates, one of Afghanistan’s most famous fruits...

Pomegranate arils are

great in deserts—on

cakes, ice cream, and

more—but are also used in soups & other dishes!

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Language Lesson

Of the many languages spoken in Afghanistan, Pashto and Dari are designated as the official languages. Let’s learn common Japanese names.

Embassy of Afghanistan in Tokyo 2-2-1 Azabudai, Minato ward, Tokyo 106-0041

Domestic Tel: 03-5574-7611

Fax: 03-5574-0195

Overseas Tel: +81-3-5574-7611

Fax: +81-3-5574-0195

Website

www.afghanembassyjp.org

Contact Us

If you have any comments, questions or suggestions regarding this newsletter or the Embassy, please send an e-mail to the embassy’s Public Affairs Officer, Jason Pratt:

[email protected]

Afghan News, February 2010