The conference will take place in London on 28 January 2010. It will be co-hosted by Prime Minister Gordon Brown, President Karzai and United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, and co-chaired by the UK and Afghan Foreign Ministers and the UN.
The Prime Minister, who announced the London Conference at a press conference with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on 28 November, said the purpose of the conference is to 'drive forward our campaign in Afghanistan, to match the increase in military forces with an increased political momentum, to focus the international community on a clear set of priorities across the 43-nation coalition and marshal the maximum international effort to help the Afghan government deliver'.
The shared Afghan and international goal remains a stable and secure Afghanistan.
Who attends?
We have invited:
- foreign ministers from International Security Assistance Force partners, Afghanistan’s immediate neighbours and key regional players
- representatives from NATO, the United Nations, the EU and other international organisations such as the World Bank
Ambitions
Purpose of Afghanistan: The London Conference
The purpose of the conference will be to deliver and coordinate support to enable President Karzai to meet the ambitions he set out in his inauguration speech. The London Conference will focus on:
- security
- development and governance
- regional framework/international architecture
What happens after the London Conference?
Building a stable and secure Afghanistan is a long-term plan with many challenges, but the international community is determined to continue to support the Afghan government to see the task through. ISAF partners will gradually move to a more supportive role, but will stay in Afghanistan until Afghan forces are ready to take full control.
We are committed to working with the government of Afghanistan to achieve our shared long-term goals.
The plan is that the London Conference will be followed by an international conference in Kabul later in the year to present the Afghan government’s commitments to the people of Afghanistan. There would then be a further international conference in early 2011.
This sequence of events will help the international community and Afghan government to strengthen Afghan leadership, improve security and build a better future for the Afghan people.
• Communiqué of “Afghanistan: The London Conference” Afghan Leadership, Regional Cooperation, International Partnership
• Outcomes from Afghanistan: The London Conference
• Afghanistan conference sets out plan for two-tier peace process
• Moving from war to peace
