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On 11 May at the ongoing Fourth United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries in Istanbul, Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania Evaldas Ignatavičius, who heads the Lithuanian delegation, said that when implementing the reforms in Afghanistan it was necessary to focus on good governance and support to local non-governmental organizations.

During the high-level discussion on the issues of good governance, the Vice-Minister acquainted participants of the conference with development cooperation activities of Lithuania in Afghanistan, and Lithuania’s key projects in this field, including support for the establishment of a centre for civil servants in Afghanistan’s Ghor province.

According to E.Ignatavičius, when aiming to make progress in the field of good governance, it is necessary to guarantee the development of an independent local non-governmental sector in Afghanistan.

In 2010, six representatives from the administration of Ghor province and non-governmental organizations received training in Lithuania. They were taught to draft projects and intercultural communication, acquired fundraising skills. Later two Lithuanian experts offered individual consultations in Ghor province and helped to prepare project proposals.

Last year in Afghanistan, Lithuania implemented 26 development cooperation projects at the total value of over 2 million Litas. Most of the projects were implemented in the areas of support to social development and health care, good governance and the strengthening of institutional administrative capacities.

In 2010, Lithuania continued the construction of a child day care centre in Chaghcharan, the provincial capital of Ghor, and supported activities of the provincial civil service training centre. In 2011, reconstruction of the hospital in Chaghcharan will start aiming to improve health care services to the residents of the province of Ghor.

The First United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries convened in Paris in 1981. It is held every ten years. Today 48 countries have been described as a group of least developed countries. They have a combined population of more than 880 million people.