Afghanis want poverty discussed in Bonn
- 13 years ago
EDIT CONTAINS 4;3 MATERIAL
Many residents in and around Kabul live in abject poverty-- with no signs of improvement.
Half a million people in Afghanistan have been displaced over the past decade due to violence and fighting with problems like hunger and malnutrition getting worse.
In the days before an international conference in Bonn, Germany, residents here say they hope representatives attending the meetings will take their concerns to heart.
(SOUNDBITE) (Dari) RESIDENT AND SPOKESPERSON FOR MIGRANT FAMILIES, MOHAMMAD IBRAHIM, SAYING:
"For almost three years we have lived in a tent. We are demanding the international community and the Afghan President himself provide us with food and shelter because our living conditions are very bad -- we are living in tents as you see."
A conference in Bonn, Germany set for next week was supposed to offer renewed commitments by Western nations to help stabilize the Asian nation as foreign troops prepare for departure.
But as NATO nations face economic crisis' of their own, it's unclear how much help can be offered.
The meeting will also be marred by Pakistan's decision to boycott the meetings after a NATO air strike, aimed a militants, actually killed 24 of its soldiers last weekend.
Pakistan is perhaps the single most critical player in efforts to end Afghan violence.
Julie Noce, Reuters
Many residents in and around Kabul live in abject poverty-- with no signs of improvement.
Half a million people in Afghanistan have been displaced over the past decade due to violence and fighting with problems like hunger and malnutrition getting worse.
In the days before an international conference in Bonn, Germany, residents here say they hope representatives attending the meetings will take their concerns to heart.
(SOUNDBITE) (Dari) RESIDENT AND SPOKESPERSON FOR MIGRANT FAMILIES, MOHAMMAD IBRAHIM, SAYING:
"For almost three years we have lived in a tent. We are demanding the international community and the Afghan President himself provide us with food and shelter because our living conditions are very bad -- we are living in tents as you see."
A conference in Bonn, Germany set for next week was supposed to offer renewed commitments by Western nations to help stabilize the Asian nation as foreign troops prepare for departure.
But as NATO nations face economic crisis' of their own, it's unclear how much help can be offered.
The meeting will also be marred by Pakistan's decision to boycott the meetings after a NATO air strike, aimed a militants, actually killed 24 of its soldiers last weekend.
Pakistan is perhaps the single most critical player in efforts to end Afghan violence.
Julie Noce, Reuters