17 November 2006, Québec, Canada – Resolution on Reaffirming NATO's Unity of Purpose in Afghanistan

The Assembly,

1. Recognising that the stabilisation and reconstruction of Afghanistan is one of NATO's most important operations and that the result will have a heavy impact upon the Alliance and its credibility as an international actor;

2. Paying homage to the members of our armed services serving in Afghanistan and commemorating those who have lost their lives in this mission;

3. Stressing that providing security across the whole country is absolutely crucial to conquer insurgency, to stabilise the country and to prevent the region from becoming a haven for international terrorism;

4. Welcoming the strategic partnership signed with the government of Afghanistan;

5. Recognising that Afghanistan's long-term security and stability cannot and will not be ensured by military means alone, and also recognising that it requires good governance, justice and the rule of law, reinforced by reconstruction and development, as well as international and, in particular, regional co-operation; 

6. Stressing that this is inherently a long-term and multifaceted mission;

7. Recognising that the successful stabilisation and reconstruction of Afghanistan requires winning the hearts and minds of the Afghan people;

8. Concerned about the lack of security and the weakness of Afghanistan's government institutions, particularly in remote regions and recognising that, as it struggles to rebuild its shattered society, Afghanistan needs the continued and even increased involvement of NATO and the international community;

9. Understanding that NATO is charged with assisting the legitimate and elected government of Afghanistan in securing the national territory from illegitimate armed groups that threaten the progress achieved so far;

10. Welcoming the improvements of NATO's efficiency in Afghanistan and the expansion of its mission to include the most troubled parts of the country, but regretting that serious gaps between political rhetoric and actual commitments by NATO member states continue to limit the operations of its forces;

11. Welcoming the additional contributions of some members, but encouraging all members to share in the risks and costs of our collective decision;

12. Noting that this mission is an important indication of the ongoing transformation of the Alliance and the capabilities improvements undertaken by individual members that allow such a mission to be possible; but,

13. Also noting that NATO has struggled to persuade members to provide adequate personnel and equipment to perform the tasks at hand, and deploring the failure to supply additional forces as requested;

14. Concerned about the continuing high level of drug production and the lack of a comprehensive and coherent policy that includes Afghan authorities as well as the international community and the neighbouring countries;

15. Noting that Pakistan is itself affected by the insurgency and has a key role in its defeat of the insurgency and deeming necessary stronger co-operation by Pakistan in order to tackle this challenge;

16. Recognising and commending the important contributions by NATO as well as partner nations to the stabilisation and reconstruction of Afghanistan but also aware that the continued and increased economic, financial, legal and other assistance provided by the United Nations and the EU is essential to the success in Afghanistan;

17. Regretting that NATO's relationship with the EU continues to improve only slowly and stressing the need for a more effective partnership that establishes a formal NATO-EU framework which includes all security-relevant strata of the EU;

18. URGES governments and parliaments of member and partner countries of the North Atlantic Alliance:

a. to increase further the effectiveness of NATO's joint operations by removing those national caveats that are currently impeding the prompt and effective utilisation of some NATO forces currently deployed in Afghanistan and by improving funding mechanisms for joint operations;

b. to improve our interoperability in communications and weapons systems as well as in training;

c. to supply the personnel and equipment that our military commanders deem necessary to perform this mission;

d. to implement the commitments made to NATO, including providing for sufficient  investment budgets and following up on force generation promises and, in particular, to supply sufficient, robust, combat-capable troops to fight the insurgents in the South and East of Afghanistan;

e. to better balance offensive security operations with reconstruction efforts and to provide more focus to ongoing reconstruction by giving priority to projects in the sectors of irrigation, roads and energy supply, and to develop and implement a common and comprehensive policy to tackle drug production;

f. to co-ordinate better the efforts of our Provincial Reconstruction Teams across Afghanistan;

g.  to devise and implement a strong policy towards the government of Afghanistan with the aim of speeding up reform processes that tackle more effectively the problems of underdevelopment and corruption, particularly in the police force;

h. to apply strictly humanitarian law and the Geneva Conventions in order to win the hearts and minds of the Afghan people;

I. to expand and develop further the co-ordination and co-operation with other actors by formalising partnerships with countries that share the values of the Alliance;

j. to continue and deepen the political transformation of the Alliance by strengthening the role of NATO as a forum for political dialogue and decision making by empowering the North Atlantic Council to discuss the relevant issues that can impact upon the security of NATO member and partner countries;

k. to reaffirm our unity of purpose in assisting the government of Afghanistan to provide a secure and stable environment for its citizens;

19.  ENCOURAGES the United Nations:

a.  to improve NATO-UN co-ordination in order to provide a deeper and more structured relationship between the two organisations; 

20.  URGES the government of Pakistan:

a. to improve its co-operation with the government of Afghanistan and the international community to combat the insurgency and to do its utmost to deny Taliban forces a safe haven;

21. URGES the government of Afghanistan:

a. to pursue energetically domestic reform and reconstruction efforts in line with the Afghanistan Compact.