The UN Security Council on Friday extended a welcome to a major international conference on Afghanistan, which just concluded in the Afghan capital of Kabul, and voiced its willingness to joint the world efforts to build a peaceful Afghanistan, Xinhua reported.
The statement came as Nigerian UN Ambassador Uche Joy Ogwu, who holds the rotating Council presidency for July, was reading a statement to the press here after the 15-nation body heard a briefing by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who co-chaired the International Conference on Afghanistan with Afghan President Hamid Karzai, on the international gathering.
The Kabul conference was the first international meeting on Afghanistan to be held in the country.
The Security Council welcomed the Kabul conference and " congratulated the government of Afghanistan on the organization of the conference, which brought together representatives of more than 60 countries, international and regional organizations and financial institutions to discuss Afghanistan's development, governance and stability," the statement said.
"The members of the Council supported this Afghan-led process, which aims to accelerate Afghan leadership and ownership, strengthen international partnership and regional cooperation, improve Afghanistan's governance, enhance the capabilities of the security forces, deliver economic growth, and provide better protection for the rights of all its citizens," the statement said.
"The members of the Security Council welcomed the Kabul conference communique, which recognized the conference as an important milestone in the Kabul process," said the statement.
The conference builds on previous international meetings between Afghanistan and its international partners, most recently the London Conference held in January.
"The members of the Council welcome the commitments made by the Afghan government, including the development framework, timelines and benchmarks for the new national priority programs, progress towards a transition to an Afghan security lead, improving of governance and tackling corruption."
"The members of the Council looked forward to the timely implementation of this commitments and called upon the international community to provide assistance to support the Kabul process in greater alignment with Afghan priorities," the statement said.