Political strategy

Both Ban and Eide called on the Afghan government and the international community to re-evaluate the current strategy and put more weight on empowering the government and building civilian institutions.

All the key players -- Afghan and international -- had drawn important lessons from controversial experiences and missed opportunities, the secretary-general said.

The sharpened strategies of the international community demonstrated a clear understanding that continued pursuit of the same policies would not lead to success, but for them to be successful the new government must fulfill its far-reaching pledges, he stated.

"Better coordination based on strong political willingness of donor countries and strong local effort is key to resolving the current situation," Ban said.

"We need strategies that meet the requirements of building sustainable institutions to deliver services to the Afghan people, and to develop the Afghan economy," he said.

Eide, who also heads UNAMA, said that since the United Nations undertook to engage in the post-Taliban Afghanistan nine years ago, it had achieved much in the areas of education, health, and institution-building.

However, worrisome "negative trends" had since arisen, bringing a growing impatience among the donor community and troop-contributing countries, increasing frustration among the Afghan public, and difficulties in putting the insurgency on the defensive, he said.

"If these negative trends are not soon reversed, then there is a risk that they will become unmanageable," he warned.

Eide said the Afghan people should be allowed to take charge of their own future through a transition strategy that should include systematic build-up of civilian institutions.

The transition strategy's civilian aspects must be taken as seriously as its military component, he said. As the international community had long held for years, the strategy must be politically, not militarily driven.

He offered an outline for a political strategy, which he said should consist of a systematic approach to civilian institution-building.

Anti-corruption policies were important, as were training, education, and the creation of infrastructure and incentives, he said.

Representatives from the 15 Security Council members, the European Union, Afghanistan and a number of other member states also exchanged similar views and concerns in a meeting that was presided over by Chinese Ambassador Zhang Yesui, the Council president for this month.

Afghanistan's UN Ambassador Zahir Tanin assured the Council that the newly-formed government shared the same ultimate goal as the international community: to prepare and empower Afghans to take charge of their own destinies.

In the next five years, he said, the central goal of the government would be preparing for the transition to full Afghan rule by strengthening sovereignty and national ownership.

Tanin called upon the international community to ensure that every action taken in the country was in support of those efforts.