My journey through Afghanistan - Last day

Oxfam’s Zahra Akkerhuys spent a week in rural Afghanistan visiting Oxfam’s team fighting in the frontline – in the battle against poverty.

Sunday

Today I took the UN flight back to Kabul. It’s a world away from Badakhshan. The city is surrounded by mountains yet the air is polluted and there are no wildflowers or birds to be seen. The lack of security is inescapable and my movements are once again dictated by what is considered safe - and what is not.
 
It’s July now – the month of the big Kabul Conference (the follow-up to the London Conference, which took place in January). Representatives from about 70 countries are likely to attend the event on July 20 – mostly at Foreign Secretary level. It’s unclear at this stage what will come out of the conference, due to be hosted by President Kharzai.

Reintegration of combatants and combating corruption will be topping the agenda of the event, but I hope the agenda is far wider than that – and that it will be practical and not just full of fine words, good intentions and pledges of recycled money. This conference needs to make a real difference to the ordinary people I met this week in Badakhshan – otherwise there’s just no point.

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Oxfam's work in Afghanistan

 The Cost of War: Afghan Experiences, in pictures

Join the petition: Afghanistan – People First