1. Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Lee Kyung-chul virtually attended the 2020 Afghanistan Conference held in Geneva, Switzerland, on November 24 to discuss the international community’s assistance policies for Afghanistan.

° The Conference was co-chaired by Minister of Foreign Affairs of Afghanistan Atmar, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Finland Haavisto, and Head of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) Lyons; featured keynote speeches by President of Afghanistan Ghani and UN Secretary-General Guterres; and was attended by delegates of about 70 countries, including the United States, Germany, Japan, and the United Kingdom, as well as about 30 international organizations.

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2. The participants took note of the international community’s efforts and achievements to date toward the stability and the development of Afghanistan, reaffirmed their plan to continue rendering financial support to the Afghan government after 2021, and shared diverse views on the way forward for Afghanistan and challenges that the country should overcome.

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° The participants also unanimously expressed hope that intra-Afghan negotiations, currently underway in Doha, Qatar, would make progress and work out a political settlement that can end the long-standing conflict.

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3. The ROK’s Special Representative Lee introduced the ROK government’s assistance to Afghanistan to date, spoke of the ROK government’s plan to contribute until 2024, brought renewed attention to the fact that the international community’s support for Afghanistan is vital to its peace process and reconstruction, and stressed that the Afghan government, on its part, needs to take measures to eliminate corruption and to enhance transparency and accountability.

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4. As a result of the Conference, the participants adopted a communique, focused on calling for an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Afghanistan, welcoming the start of intra-Afghan negotiations between the Afghan government and the Taliban, and underscoring the need to build governance that embraces women and minority ethnic groups.

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° As the participants decided to review the progress in the situation in Afghanistan on an annual basis starting from the year 2021, the international community and the Afghan government agreed to hold a Senior Officials Meeting in 2021 and a Ministerial Meeting in 2022.

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5. The ROK government, as a responsible middle power country of the international community, dispatched the Dongui and Dasan Units, ran a Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT), and provided financial aid, in a bid to help establish stability and peace in Afghanistan.

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° The ROK government will continue to take part in the international community’s efforts to establish peace and stability in Afghanistan.