18 Amendments of Francisco ASSIS related to 2014/2230(INI)
Amendment 13 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Points out that more than 13 years of western intervention with numerous casualties (10 548 killed and wounded civilians in 2014 alone) have made it painfully clear that no military solution is possible in Afghanistan; stresses that the Western military presence, and especially its offensive operations, are part of the conflict and not a solution to it;
Amendment 22 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
Amendment 34 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
Amendment 51 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Is concerned about the high costs of the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF), which is estimated to have reached USD 6 billion in 2014, and the lack of long-term commitments by the EU, or by other members of the international community, to finance the ANSF budget; stresses that even with the planned reduction of personnel to about 230 000 in the coming years it will be impossible for the Afghan Government to provide the necessary financing; expresses its grave concern that this may lead to a dangerous situation in which a highly militarised and equipped police and army could look for alternative ways of generating income;
Amendment 77 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Calls for the transformation of EUPOL Afghanistan into a support missioncreation of a support mission, with the collaboration of the UN, for an Afghan-led DDR process, i.a. with the goals of demobilising the various militias and reducing the total number of ANSF personnel as far and as fast as possible, without compromising security; calls on the EU and on NATO to support and adequately fund efforts for demining Afghanistan;
Amendment 104 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Recognises the presidential elections 2014; regrets that every presidential and parliamentary election in Afghanistan since 2005 has been marrked by fraud and violenceviolence and allegations of fraud; welcomes the formation of a government of national unity;
Amendment 110 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Welcomes the stated intent of the new President Ashraf Ghani to make combating corruption one of his priorities; encourages the Afghan Government to engage in establishing an independent judiciary; encourages a thorough review process of the role and failures of the attempts to establish a functioning justice system, as well as of the role of the EUPOL mission in this context;
Amendment 118 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. Notes the lack of substanCalls on the new government to dedicate more political progress oncapital to human and fundamental rights since 2002, in particular with regard to women and girls in Afghanistan; calls on the new government to dedicate more political capital to this issue and, in particular, and to implement the National Action Plan for the Women of Afghanistan and the law on the elimination of violence against women (EVAW), as well as to comply with all other international treaties concerning human rights; calls on the Afghan authorities to promote the effective participation of women in all key bodies, nationally and internationally, and at all levels;
Amendment 133 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
13. Regrets the fact that, despite modest progress in some areas, the largWelcomes that the amounts of development aid provided so far has failed to improve significanimproved, although modestly, the social and economic situation of the majority of the population; is concerned about the high rate of unemployment (which is estimated to have reached 50 %)7 , the poor access to medical care, the poor state of the health system and the fact that more than half of the population is living in poverty; __________________ 7 German Foreign Ministry progress report on Afghanistan 2014 (‘Fortschrittsbericht Afghanistan 2014’). http://www.auswaertiges- amt.de/cae/servlet/contentblob/691670/pu blicationFile/199488/141119- Fortschrittsbericht_AFG_2014.pdf., the poor access to medical care and the high rates of poverty among the population. __________________
Amendment 137 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14
Paragraph 14
Amendment 149 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15
Paragraph 15
15. Calls for an EU strategy for Afghanistan that focuses on social and economic development, in particular in rural areas where the majority of the population lives; calls on the EU to prioritise poverty alleviation and to tie development aid to Afghan public employment measures to create urgently needed jobs; recognises the need to strengthen local and regional authorities;
Amendment 160 #
Motion for a resolution
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Paragraph 17
Amendment 168 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18
Paragraph 18
Amendment 178 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19
Paragraph 19
19. Emphasises the potential of Afghanistan’s resources, which are estimated to have a value of USD 900 billion; encourages the EU to assist the government to realise this potential in a way that in the first instance benefits the Afghan people rather than safeguards the profits of multinational enterprises;
Amendment 185 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20
Paragraph 20
20. Appreciates the fact that today between 8 aaround 98 million (ca. 80 %) of Afghan children attend school (whereof 40 % are girls), which is a significant increase compared to the situation in 2001, when the figure was one million, but is concerned about the low school graduation rates, and about the fact that the estimated national adult literacy rate for citizens aged 15 and older is still very low (34 %, of which women account for 18 % and men for 50 %);
Amendment 186 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21
Paragraph 21
21. Draws attention to the immense challenge of employing the approximately 400 000 young Afghans that enter the workforce each year; notes that if this challenge is not tackled urgently and systematically, it can contribute to further poverty and radicalisation; asks the EU to focus its aid programmes on efforts to ensure employment opportunities and a meaningful life for Afghan youth;
Amendment 190 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 22
Paragraph 22
22. Highlights the importance of efforts to phase out opium cultivation in Afghanistan, but notes that they have had little success so far; calls, in this regard, for viable alternative livelihoods and for measures to help improve living conditions for populations in rural areas in general; urges the EU to consider, together with its international partners, a fundamental review of the counter-narcotics policies they are currently pursuing in Afghanistan, ensuring that they fit into a wider development strategy; proposes that measures be taken to fight money- laundering and that the creation of massive subsidy programmes for cropscrops substitution programs should be considered;
Amendment 195 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 23
Paragraph 23
23. Points out that opium cultivation and production in Afghanistan reached record levels in 2014; recognises the fact that Afghanistan suffers one of the world’s highest prevalence rates for opiate use, and that 100 000 people around the world are killed by Afghan opium each year; urges the Afghan authorities, and all other parties concerned, to combat transnational organised crime and drug trafficking;