Violence and corruption continue to plague development in Afghanistan, but carefully monitored investments made in large infrastructure projects could substantially contribute to the country's long-term progress, the United Nations' top envoy for the country told the Security Council here on Tuesday.

"In the longer term, key infrastructure programs could turn Afghanistan from being a barrier to trade to becoming a corridor for regional economic activities," said Kai Eide. "Such infrastructure would also enable Afghanistan to exploit its own natural and human resources."

A railway network, for example, from the Iranian border through Herat and northeast to China, as well as from the Pakistani border through Jalalabad linking up with the lines of Central Asia, would stimulate trade, said Eide, who heads the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA).

"Agreements already exist for the building of significant parts of this network (but) there is a need to fill in the gaps," he said, calling for more resources to take advantage of such opportunities.

However, Eide also cautioned that the prospects for short-term progress are "seriously undermined" by the ongoing conflict, noting that "this is the most intense fighting season we have experienced."

The number of security incidents rose beyond the one thousand mark for the first time in May, he said, adding that there are more incidents in parts of the country which used to be stable in the past.

"The Taliban are showing an increasing disregard for human life and are intentionally targeting civilians," he told the 15-nation Council.

Widespread corruption also remains a concern, said Eide. There is still a serious lack of reporting on how and where development resources are spent, which is made all the more difficult to gauge because of the country's weak institutions.

Six provinces still do not have offices for their governors and288 district governors do not have a vehicle, which "impacts tremendously on their ability to administer the country and deliver services to the people," he said.

Eide mentioned a recent report by the UN secretary-general, which described some progress being made over the past few months, in such areas as reforming the agriculture and the private sectors, improving revenue collection, facilitating the government's internal coordination, and developing social programs.

"There is totally new momentum in these areas," said Eide. However, he added, "If we do not succeed in maintaining this momentum then I am afraid we will witness new stagnation and more disillusionment among the public."

Eide promised to provide a set of benchmarks for progress by September to the Council, but noted that the United Nations needed to do a better job responding quicker to problems on the ground. For example, he said, this Spring the Afghan Ministry of Agriculture asked for an urgent contribution of 5.5 million U.S. dollars to purchase wheat seed.

"In spite of a number of appeals, it has not been possible to provide the resources required," he said. "We cannot end up in a situation where we have to turn to Bill Gates to meet urgent requirements of this nature."

Commenting on the country's upcoming elections on Aug. 20, Eide said he has urged all candidates to campaign with dignity and with fairness and has called on all government officials to maintain impartiality during the election process.

On Saturday, Afghan President Hamid Karzai has called on the Taliban and other opposition parties to take part in the presidential and provincial council elections.

With a Taliban-led insurgency peaking this year, there are concerns that the militants will attack the polls or intimidate Afghans into not voting, especially in the most intense battlefields in the south. The insurgents have not explicitly announced they would target the polls, but have called on Afghans to boycott the elections.

Source: Xinhua