September 20142014 NewsletterNewsletter - Afghanistan · achievable by promoting active roles of...

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Historic Ceremony Ushers in

New Era for Afghanistan

Contents

NewsletterNewsletter SeptemberSeptember 20142014

Breaking News

－Latest News

－Ambassador’s

Message

－Ambassador’s

Activities

－Afghanistan’s

News

－Culture

－Interview

Project In a historic day for Afghanistan, H.E. Dr. Ashraf Ghani

Ahmadzai, the new President of the Islamic Republic of Af-

ghanistan, was sworn in on Monday the 29th of September in a

grand inauguration ceremony. In what was a day of pride and

celebration for the people of Afghanistan, H.E. President Ash-

raf Ghani Ahmadzai humbly and eloquently said, “O peo-

ple, now I have been elected your leader, although I am no bet-

ter than anyone of you. If I do something the proper way, sup-

port me but If I do something wrong, guide me, truth is honesty

and untruth is dishonesty. The weak among you are powerful in

my eyes, as long as I do not get them their due and the power-

ful among you are weak in my eyes, as long as I do not take

away from them what is due to others.” The grand ceremony

was watched live by millions of Afghans who felt a great sense

of hope for both their family’s and their country’s future.

Inside this issue

Breaking

News 1

2

3

Ambassador’s

massage 4

Ambassador’s

activities 5

Afghanistan’s

News 5

6

7

Culture 8

Interview 9

2

H.E. Former President Karzai:

A Great Leader Who Will be Dearly Missed

Breaking News

After thirteen years of honorable service to the people of Af-

ghanistan, H.E. Former President Hamid Karzai stepped

down as President on the 29th of September. The former

president leaves behind a strong legacy in what U.S. Ambas-

sador to Afghanistan James Cunningham described as, “one

of the most difficult jobs in the world."

Despite the difficulties, substantial social, political and eco-

nomic advances were achieved during the former President’s

leadership. H.E. Former President Karzai will be fondly re-

membered as the leader who oversaw the country’s develop-

ment into a young democracy in which millions of Afghans

have enjoyed transformational development and increased

freedoms and prosperity.

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A Great Leap Forward for Afghan Democracy

Breaking News

The strength, stability and resiliency of democracy in Afghanistan was

highlighted by H.E. President Ahmadzai’s first presidential decree which

signed into effect the creation of the post of the Chief Executive for H.E.

Dr. Abdullah. H.E. Dr. Abdullah was announced as the runner-up in the

second round of voting for the country’s new president and the creation of

such a position is a great example of the country’s unity and strong desire

for a peaceful future.

Such an outcome for the governance of the country comes after millions

of voters participated in the country’s democratic process and ensures that

the broad spectrum of the population will be represented in the leadership

of their young democracy. The peaceful transfer of power, clearly demon-

strates how far Afghanistan has come over the last decade and a half. The

brave Afghan nation has shown tolerance and patience which has ensured

that our Constitution has been respected.

The recent months of political maturity and wisdom will ensure that Af-

ghanistan’s young democracy will further develop and flourish for the

benefit of many future generations

H.E. Ambassador Dr. Sayed M. Amin Fatimie and the Diplomatic staff at

the Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, Tokyo, offer our sin-

cerest congratulations to H.E. President Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai and H.E.

Chief Executive Officer Abdullah Abdullah on this historic inauguration.

4

Newsletter, September 2014Newsletter, September 2014

New Message from the AmbassadorNew Message from the Ambassador Dr. Sayed M. Amin Fatimie

Dear Friends,

On behalf of my country, I am delighted to share with you the joy and

hope that I and my Afghan brothers and sisters are experiencing. Our

country’s Presidential Election has now been completed and Afghans an-

ticipate that H.E. President Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai and his leadership

will further the development of democracy and progress for peace under

a united government and a united country.

During H.E. President Ahmadzai’s grand inauguration on Monday the

29th of September, the President specifically mentioned Japan, stating that the new govern-

ment strongly desires to develop our already robust relations even further. I look forward to

working with our new government in Kabul to facilitate even greater levels of friendship with

the honorable people of Japan.

Afghanistan has experienced decades of turmoil. Now, however, we are a young democracy

that is being defined by its increasing freedom and participation in civil society, the increas-

ing standards of living enjoyed by our communities and the rapid advances in education and

health services for our people. This was particularly possible due to the strong contributions

of Japan, for which we will be forever grateful.

Here in Japan and in Afghanistan it is the season of Autumn. However, due to the great suc-

cess of our democratic elections, it is actually springtime in the hearts of the Afghan people.

My Japanese friends, it has been both an honor and a joy to share this great news with you.

Although it is indeed Autumn, let us walk hand-in-hand, as if it were spring, and celebrate to-

gether the fruits of democracy in Afghanistan.

5


390 Afghan civil servants from various municipal offices of Kunduz region successfully com-

pleted a year-long training in public administration course run by the Independent Administra-

tive Reform & Civil Service Commission (IARCSC). The courses were offered in administrative

management, human resources management, financial management, procurement, in English

language and computer skills. The courses were funded by the German Government while tech-

nical support came from Afghan-German Cooperation. The project aims to educate staff of the

government with essential administration skills for more efficient governance, ultimately con-

tributing to increasing Afghan ownership of the state.

Germany Helps Afghanistan’s Public Administration Training

Afghanistan’s NewsAfghanistan’s News

September, 17. H.E. Ambassador Dr. Sayed M. Amin

Fatimie hosted a ceremony in recognition of Martyr Week

and a reception for the Japan International Cooperation

Agency (JICA) PEACE invitation program. In a ceremony of

Martyr Week, participants mourned and honored people who

fought for Afghanistan throughout history. H.E. then gave re-

marks, expressing great gratitude for JICA and the Japanese

government’s support to Afghanistan. This was followed by

an inspirational speech by Mr. Ahmad Kamal Qasemyar, the human resources director from Ka-

bul Municipality, who spoke about Afghanistan’s future. Participants enjoyed traditional Af-

ghan cuisines over fruitful discussions following the ceremony.

Ceremony for Martyr Week and Reception

for JICA PEACE Invitation Program

Ambassador’s ActivitiesAmbassador’s Activities

World Assembly for Women

September, 12. H.E. Ambassador Dr. Sayed M. Amin Fatimie

attended the World Assembly for Women 2014 in Tokyo. At

the event, a variety of issues including economic benefits

achievable by promoting active roles of women, diversity in

working styles and the development of society were dis-

cussed. H.E. Ambassador Dr. Fatimie attended with Dr. Sima

Samar, the chairperson of the Afghanistan Independent Hu-

man Rights Commission and met with H.E. Prime Minister

Shinzo Abe, Minister of Foreign Affairs Fumio Kishida, and

President of New Komeito Natuso Yamamoto.

6



Ministry of Public Health inaugu-

rated a health information center for

mobile access in Kabul. By dialing

number 166, citizens will be able to

access professional health consultation

regarding topics such as reproductive

health, vaccines, nutrition, sanitary

habits and first aid care. The center is capable of receiving nearly 300 to 350 calls

on work days. The service will help prevent diseases and improve the general pub-

lic awareness towards health and sanitation, especially among women and children

as well as residents of remote areas.

The number of girls attending school in eastern Khost province has increased to

115,000 as awareness for education rises among local residents. The province has

witnessed a positive change in the education sector and attendance of aspiring

young girls. Deputy Head of the Education Department of Khost, Bakht Noor

Bakhtyar, said that the number of girls attending school increases every day. Khost

Governor Abdul Jabar Naeemi has also expressed optimism over the recent devel-

opments in the education sector, especially for girls.

Increase in the Number of Girls in Khost Schools

Afghanistan entered a new era of

development by launching the digital broadcasting system for the first time in the

country. Development and achievements in telecommunication and information

technology have been remarkable in the past decade, and all have contributed to

the improvement of media, civil and political freedom and government account-

ability. The Ministry of Telecommunication and Information Technology said that

digitization will take place at 60 TV stations in Kabul first, then spread to other

provinces in the near future.

28 Km Road Construction Inaugurated In Balkh

28km of road will be constructed in Balkh to connect Mazar-e-Sharif city to 30

Shulgara villages. Deputy Minister for Ministry of Public Works, Ahmad Shah

Wahid indicated that although the cost will be 10 million dollars, this project will

have worthwhile results, facilitating local residents and travelers.

Afghanistan Launches Digitization

Health Call Center in Kabul

7



Director of National Musem of Afghanistan, Omara Khan

Masoudi, was honoured Ramon Magsaysay Award in Ma-

nila on 31st August. This award has been bestowed by the

Ramon Magsaysay Foundation in the Philippines, which

was first founded in 1957 to honour services of the Philip-

pine’s third president. It is granted annually to leading fig-

ures and remarkable organizations in various fields to hon-

our the great sprit of their selfless service to the people of

Asia. He won this award for his outstanding service related to protection and preser-

vation of the National Museum’s artefacts and its renovation.

Masoudi Honored Roman Magsaysay Award

Table tennis athletes around the country will par-

take in a national competition in Kabul, which will

filter talented players to select the potential National Table Tennis Team. The

numbers of participants have increased as well, to 60 male and 30 female play-

ers, compared to the past years. The athletes hail from various provinces such

as Kabul, Herat, Helmland, Ghazni, Sar-e-Pul, Jowzjan, Wardak and Badakh-

shan. Top players will be selected and trained as the National Team.

Table Tennis Contest

Afghan carpet industrialists were awarded

the first position for Afghan carpet’s excel-

lence in design and quality at the Tibetan

Carpets International Exhibition held in

China. The winners were Haji Hamid Rauf

from Qadir Rauf Ltd and Mohammad Rasoul

Kazimi from Kazimi Allahdad Ltd, on behalf

of 15 Afghan carpet companies that had participated in the exhibition. As a re-

sult, the traders landed one million USD contracts with Chinese counterparts to

export carpets. The Tibetan Carpets International Exhibition has been held every

year since 2004 as the only international handmade carpet exhibition in China. It

has provided a strong connection between domestic and overseas handmade car-

pet industry for Afghanistan.

Afghan Carpets Secure 1st Position

in Tibetan Carpets Int’1 Exhibition

8


Embassy of Afghanistan in Tokyo Address: 2-2-1 Azabudai, Minato ward, Tokyo, 106-0041

Cultural Discovery Project Cultural Discovery Project ~~NoNo..11~~

History When we talk of carpets, involuntarily,

the name of Afghanistan comes to mind.

For hundreds of years, carpets have been

the most important and best-known hand-

craft items from Afghanistan and a major

export article. Afghan carpets are thick,

heavy floor covering hand-woven rugs

decorated with a myriad of colors and

ravish patterns.

The art of carpet weaving in Afghanistan is deeply connected with the cul-

ture and customs of the people throughout history. It is a reminder and artifact

of the ancient, nomadic lifestyle as carpets were used to decorate and design

tents.

Characteristics Afghan carpets are made of handspun Afghan wool and colored from vege-

table and natural dyes. It features geometric patterns as the principles of Islam

forbid the depiction of human and animal

forms. The most prevalent is the “Afghan

Bokhara”, a large quartered octagon shape,

which is also called “elephant’s foot”. The

principal colors are red and blue, with

white and yellow ochre as secondary tones.

NEXT IS……. Interview Project

Tel: 03-5574-7611 / Fax: 03-5574-0195

Website: www.afghanembassyjp.org

http://www.afghanembassyjp.org

9

Afghan News, November 1010 Newsletter, September 2014Newsletter, September 2014

“Afghanistan loves peace.

It is beautiful.” by Jason Pratt

We interviewed Mr. Jason Pratt who worked at the

Embassy of Afghanistan in Tokyo as the Public Rela-

tions officer. He worked through social media and by

hosting events to help people realize that Afghanistan

is a great place with a great culture.

Why did you become a public relations of-ficer of Tokyo Afghanistan Embassy? - Actually, I didn't know much about Afghanistan in the past. But, I remember very well when 9/11 happened. I was in Japan and I was very angry and reactionary. I wanted to work on this issue as an American. In fact, I was a bit nervous when I applied at the Embassy because this was Af-ghanistan, which was mistakenly believed by me to have attack my country. But I was so im-pressed by the good people I met there.

What is the most interesting point of Af-ghanistan? - Afghanistan's hospitality is its most interesting point. I was able to attend weddings of people I had never met and shared tea every night with my hotel's security guards. Children practiced their English with me. I always feel welcomed and like a friend to everyone there.

What do you want to tell others about Af-ghanistan? - I want to make people see that Afghanistan is not a scary place but a wonderful place with a great culture. I didn't want anyone else to feel that way as I had done before. It is easy to de-fine a nation based on a certain period. Some people do not like food in Japan just because of the nuclear plant accident in Fukushima, but we know that all of Japan is not Fukushima. We know that time has passed and things are better. I therefore hope that people know that Afghani-stan will not always be difficult - and it was diffi-cult for decades but it is better now - also it may have some rough places, but not everywhere

in the country. Just because you only see one aspect of the country, that does not define the entire nation. Afghanistan loves peace.

What do you want to do after this job? - I am going to teach at a university in Japan. But I will never be far from Afghanistan. I knew too little about this wonderful country, but now Afghanistan and I are connected forever. I love Afghanistan and my Af-ghan brothers and sisters.

He always introduced Afghanistan’s

beautiful places and wonderful cultures through social media in Japanese like

this ↓ . His contribution was really popu-

lar.

Thank you so much for all your work and

support, Mr. Pratt.

The Embassy of Afghanistan Presents INTERVIEW PROJECT ～No.1～

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