World leaders from over 70 countries met in Kabul, Afghanistan, yesterday for an International Conference on Afghanistan,with the goal of helping the war-torn country restore itself economically, socially and politically. Among the attendees were Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon, and NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen. Secretary Clinton spoke of US support for the country and expressed a need for “an Afghanistan that is stable, peaceful and secure is in everyone’s interest, particularly women and children,” but that this goal said “cannot come at the cost of women,” according to the Agence France Presse.
“I speak from experience when I say that the work of Afghan women and civil society groups will be essential to this country’s success,” Clinton told conference participants, reported Agence France Presse. At the same time, Clinton expressed faith that the Afghan government will improve and promised assistance from the US. “We have no intention of abandoning our long-term mission of achieving a stable, secure, peaceful Afghanistan,” she said, according to BBC. “Too many nations – especially Afghanistan – have suffered too many losses to see this country slide backward.”
