Attendees of the “Reduce Child Mortality” symposium included the Prime Minister of Norway, President of Madagascar, Queen of Jordan, and a number of senior officials from UNICEF and other UN agencies.

Addressing the symposium, the President said, “The realization of the fourth UN millennium goal (reduction of child mortality by 2015) is of special importance to Afghanistan because our children die before reaching the age of five due to treatable diseases.”

The President explained the plight of Afghans living in remote villages since 2001:

“Lack of transport facilities is a major problem and causes the deaths of Afghan mothers and children.  With the cooperation of the international community, the delivery of health services has increased 80%, but we still face a lot of problems.  Polio is being eliminated in Afghanistan and only four cases were registered last year.  But this year 27 cases were registered, mainly in the south of the country where terrorists have hampered the progress of our vaccination program.”

The President promised his administration will do its utmost to reduce child mortality with the help of the international community.

President Karzai also addressed the Asia Society in New York, briefing influential personalities on Afghanistan’s achievements since September 11 and the challenges it continues to face.

The President explained the pain and suffering Afghans have endured during the past two decades of conflict:

“After September 11, the world attended to the risks terrorists based in Afghanistan posed to the world.  As a result, the international coalition against terrorists was formed and the power of this coalition, together with the desire of the Afghan people for liberty and democracy, joined hands and liberated our country in less than one and half months.

After liberation, the rule of the terrorists was ended, but its funding and equipping sources were ignored.  As a result, the terrorists continue killing our teachers and doctors, burning our schools and health clinics in the border region of Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Everyday Afghans ask me to build schools and clinics, and it shows that Afghans do not do this.  Those responsible are the enemies of Afghanistan and the region.”

President Karzai went on to emphasize:

“The world will not be a safe place for its people unless we know where terrorism originates from.

If we don’t succeed to prevent the use of extremism as a political instrument, the danger from terrorism will not only remain in Afghanistan, but will spread to Pakistan and the entire region, especially South Asia.

Our problem has domestic and foreign reasons.  Domestically, the lack of human resources, expertise, and the weakness of our own institutions; as a foreign factor, terrorism is a major problem for Afghanistan that we are trying to defeat with the assistance of the international community."