The gradual handover of security responsibility in Afghanistan from NATO to the government is now "irreversible", Afghan Foreign Minister Zalmai Rassoul told a conference in Bonn Saturday, dpa reported.
Speaking at the civil society forum as part of an international summit on the future of Afghanistan, Rassoul the government viewed the process as one of no return.
The transfer - already underway - is due to be completed by July 2014.
The forum is part of an international conference on the future of Afghanistan, the main session of which opens in Bonn on Monday. The meeting of 85 countries and 16 international organizations is to be chaired by Afghan President Hamid Karzai.
Earlier German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle stressed the importance of female participation in society. "No country can afford to exclude half the population from public life," he told the conference.
Around one quarter of the Afghan delegation at the conference is female. But Rassoul admitted that there remained "serious challenges" on the issue.
But he stressed that the "Afghanistan of 2001 and 2011 are not comparable."
A first draft of Monday's final declaration has already been completed, the German delegation told dpa. "But there are still tough nuts to crack, and further negotiations to be completed," a source within the delegation said.
Earlier, demonstrators gathered in Bonn to call for the immediate ceasefire and withdrawal of all foreign troops from Afghanistan.
Some 4,000 police officers monitored the demonstration.
The Bonn conference is to focus on the transfer of security responsibilities to and assistance for the Afghan government after NATO ends its mission in 2014, peace talks with the Taliban, economic development, and long-term regional stability.
Neighbouring Pakistan on Friday cancelled its participation in the meeting.