PRESS RELEASE | 2 Dec 2020

Berghof welcomes Afghan breakthrough agreement

Afghan government and Taliban movement representatives came to an agreement on the procedure and the preamble of the peace negotiations.

View from the Human Rights Commission in Kabul.

Afghan government and Taliban movement representatives came to an agreement on the procedure and the preamble of the peace negotiations today. The Berghof Foundation, who has been continuously supporting the negotiation process, is congratulating all partners involved for this first major achievement towards a peace deal and on their path to end the decade-long war in Afghanistan.

“After three months of hard talk, this is a promising signal of progress. Hopefully, this agreement helps to start a process of building sustainable peace for Afghanistan through cooperation. It is high time to stop the violence and suffering in Afghanistan. The Afghan people deserve to live in peace and without fear for their lives and their loved ones,” said Hans Joachim Giessmann, Director Emeritus and Senior Advisor on Afghanistan at the Berghof Foundation. "The next vital step for the peace desperately wanted by all sectors of Afghan society is an agreement on the agenda. The negotiations need to be inclusive and led by Afghans themselves in order to be successful. To assure sustainable peace, there needs to be an end to the violence that currently plagues the country. "

This agreement comes at a time when violence between the conflict parties continues despite the many calls for a ceasefire. Yet, this agreement on procedures and the basis for formal negotiations shows that the conflict parties are willing to move to the next phase in the process.

In close cooperation with the German Federal Foreign Office, the Berghof Foundation has been supporting the Afghan peace process for the past five years, working with Afghan partners to promote a sustainable resolution to the conflict. In July 2019, the Berghof Foundation co-organised and moderated a series of closed-door sessions at the Intra-Afghan Conference for Peace, in what amounted to the first genuine dialogue between a representative group of Afghan stakeholders.