Poverty and corruption are driving the war in Afghanistan, says a survey released Wednesday by British charity Oxfam and local organisations on the eve of President Hamid Karzai's inauguration. The report paints a bleak picture of the war-torn nation and urges the government to establish the rule of law, reform the police and judiciary, and "crack down on corruption and end the culture of impunity and patronage."
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The recommendations come a day before Karzai is sworn in for a second term, with his Western backers insisting on tough action against the corruption that infects Afghan life, from the policeman on the beat to government ministers. Related article: Somalia, Afghanistan top corruption blacklist by Transparency International.
Researchers interviewed 704 randomly selected Afghan men and women to find out how three decades of violence that began with a 1978 communist coup and subsequent Soviet invasion have affected ordinary people.
Afghanistan is now gripped by the highest levels of violence since 2001, when US-led forces overthrew the Taliban regime, the report said. More than 100,000 NATO and United States troops continue to battle a Taliban insurgency.
"The past three decades of war and disorder have had a devastating impact on the Afghan people," says the 52-page report, The Cost of War, Afghan Experiences of Conflict, 1978-2009.
"Millions have been killed, millions more have been forced to flee their homes, and the country?s infrastructure and forests have all but been destroyed.
"The social fabric of the country is fractured and state institutions are fragile and weak."
Research was conducted between January and April this year in 14 provinces in different parts of the country, where nearly half of the population lives below the poverty line and more than 250,000 are internally displaced, it said.
Seventy percent of those surveyed named unemployment and poverty as major driving factors for the war, and 48 percent identified the corruption and ineffectiveness of the Afghan government as a major cause, the study said.
"The Afghan government must demonstrate a stronger commitment to addressing corruption, increasing transparency and improving the rule of law," the report urged, based on its research.
Many people saw a link between warlords holding positions of power, spreading insecurity and a lack of confidence in the government.
"All officials and power-holders who are believed to have links to criminal networks must be subject to thorough and independent investigation, including those at the highest levels of government, and prosecuted accordingly," the report said.
Mohammad Qasim Fahim, Karzai's pick for vice president, has been implicated by US-based Human Rights Watch and diplomats in abuses including murder during Afghanistan's 1990s civil war, weapons and drugs smuggling, and corruption.
Drugs are at the heart of the graft problem in Afghanistan, which produces more than 90 percent of the world's opium.
US media accuse Karzai's brother, leading politician Ahmad Wali Karzai, of being involved in the drug trade, but he denies the allegations.
"Now the killers are in power. They are not thinking about what is best for the country and are only thinking about how they can benefit," said one unnamed Afghan man quoted in Oxfam's report.
With poverty and unemployment seen as the main drivers of the war, the report called for better measures by the international community to tackle graft and to ensure economic development and aid reach those who need it most.
"Many individuals felt that though much had been promised to the Afghan people, little had actually been delivered -- creating frustration and disillusionment and ultimately undermining stability."
The report expressed a strong desire that parties on both sides of the conflict prioritise the safety of civilians.
The United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) on Sunday urged the South Asian governments to urgently address child poverty, saying over 300 million of the 613 million children in the region are trapped in absolute poverty.
