Ashraf Ghani: 'This is part of our shame '- an exclusive interview, Deutsche Welle

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani says women’s rights are a priority commitment. But how is he planning on ensuring them and how will he fight corruption, security threats and human rights violations in his country? 
"Sovereignty of Afghanistan must be accepted categorically by Pakistan so that we can move forward."

According to Ghani, women’s rights are a top priority for him. "As long as I am president, the rights of women will be protected," he said.

"We've had a difficult legacy of 40 years, and cleaning up is not going to be a one day job. But we are engaged in a systematic effort, we have not allowed formation of new militia groups, and we are reforming the local police systematically so that there won’t be abuse," Ghani said.

"We've had to deal with an economic transition cost by the departure of over 600,000 troops and contractors that were the most important consumers and spenders in the country. We've had to impose an austerity program because the promises of the Afghan government to the national community were not credible.”

Urging Afghanistan's elite to make the most of opportunities at home
What doesn’t help Afghanistan's economy is the fact that the families of elite leaders often live abroad, such as the families of Ghani's vice presidents, who live in Turkey and Iran, and the family of Ghani’s chief executive, who lives in India. In fact, the families of the top cabinet ministers, presidential advisers and deputy ministers all live outside of the country.

In the interview with DW, Ghani urged Afghanistan's elite to make the most of opportunities at home rather than moving abroad.

"The privileged elites are part of the globalization moment that we live in. What is significant is to create opportunities for the generations to come. If the families of the privileged live abroad they are not going to have careers abroad. Their careers are back in Afghanistan. (…) If they live abroad they become dishwashers. They don’t become part of the middle class."

Ghani himself, however, did rather well when living abroad in the United States, completing a doctorate in anthropology and becoming a professor at Johns Hopkins University before returning to Afghanistan after the fall of the Taliban.  

Confronted with this fact, Ghani said: "The minute opportunity was created in 2001 I returned. I hope that the new generation of our friends will have the same sense of patriotism and respond to the conditions of our country."

The president said he was hopeful the Afghan people would succeed in dealing with the numerous issues the country is facing. "We are a free society, we engage in debate, and that is our characteristic," Ghani said, adding: "Our job is to heal and to move forward. Not to perpetuate, not to get bogged down." - Read More at In an exclusive interview

Ashraf Ghani: ′This is part of our shame - Deutsche Welle