CAPS Participates in Panel Discussion on Transition, Peace, and Security

On 8 October 2012, the Centre for Conflict and Peace Studies was invited by The Asia Foundation to participate in a panel discussion on Security, Peace, and Transition. The Panel was part of a larger conference in honour of a high level delegation of senior Asia Foundation members to Afghanistan.  The conference, which focused on a wide variety of issues of issues facing Afghanistan from the 2014 transition to women’s affairs and the Afghan economy, gave the Asia Foundation delegates from Washington the opportunity to hear and exchange views with Afghan experts.

Mr. Hekmat Karzai, CAPS Director, Senior Research Analyst Mrs. Mallory Sutika Sipus, and Research Analysts Mr. Hekmatullah Azamy and Ms. Khatira Zearmal represented the Centre for Conflict and Peace Studies. Mr. Karzai joined Minister Stanikzai, Chief Executive of the Joint Secretariat of the Afghan Peace and Reconciliation Programme and Hayatullah Wahdat, an Afghan analyst, to discuss Security, Peace, and Transition.

Recognizing the challenges that lay ahead, Mr. Karzai emphasized the importance of an Afghan-led reconciliation process that avoids specific demands, but stands on principles of respect for human rights and women’s empowerment. He expressed his hope in the Afghan youth who have continuously shown their commitment to education, respectful dialogue, and peace. Finally, Mr. Karzai stressed the need for Afghanistan’s neighbours to responsibly engage in the Afghan economy in order for the country to move forward and develop into a regional economic hub.