ANU funds two Afghanistan projects

ANU will contribute to two projects for the rebuilding of Afghanistan following a recent visit to campus by Afghanistan’s foreign minister, Dr Abdullah Abdullah.

The Vice-Chancellor, Professor Ian Chubb, announced the University would contribute about $37,000 in support of these two projects.

The first is to convene a week-long course on diplomacy for staff of the Afghan Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the capital, Kabul, later this year.

Related to this will be the University’s participation in activating an Afghan Academy of Public Service Training, also in the capital. This follows a series of conferences on Afghanistan held by Princeton University’s Liechtenstein Institute for Self-Determination.

“ANU has much expertise in the area of diplomacy and public administration,” Professor Chubb says.

“The University can therefore contribute to the development of a strong social and political fabric in this fragile nation. That is the primary reason for this support.

“Of course these projects also have important collaborative links — it will give ANU scholars access to information and research links in Afghanistan on issues such as nation-building, and it also involves collaborative relations with staff of Princeton University.”

During a public lecture at ANU, Dr Abdullah detailed the challenges ahead for Afghanistan, as well as some of those that have already been overcome.

The Director of the Centre for Arab and Islamic Studies, Professor Amin Saikal, says contributions such as that announced by ANU would help smooth the way toward constructing a robust democratic society in Afghanistan, as described by Dr Abdullah.

“ANU is one of the first Australian universities to contribute funding and resources to nurture this process further,” Professor Saikal says.

“Afghanistan has come a long way and I am confident that this contribution will prove to be fruitful for ANU and those people in Afghanistan working towards building a stable and secure democratic state.”