The two-day Afghanistan 2020 Conference begins on Monday 23 November with side events and continues on Tuesday 24 November with the main event: the pledging conference.

Official side events

Monday, 23 November 2020
Room XVII – Palais des Nation

10:00 – 12:00    1) Sustainable peace building
        Segment a: Human rights and women’s participation
        Segment b: Reintegrating refugees and returnees

12:00 – 13:30    Lunch

13:30 – 15:00    2) Institutional and societal methods for fighting corruption

16:00 – 17:30    3) Economic priorities and aid effectiveness

Afghanistan 2020 Conference

Tuesday, 24 November 2020
Assembly Hall – Palais des Nations                                        

Morning Session                                                 

9:00 – 10:00       Opening session
        Opening remarks by the co-chairs
        Keynote addresses

10:00 – 11:15    Bilateral Statements
        Statements by representatives of partner governments and organisations
        (3 minutes/slot)

11:15 – 11:30    Readout from the three side events held on Monday 23 November

11:30 – 11:35    Afghan Civil Society Joint Statement

11:35 – 13:00    Bilateral Statements

13:00 – 13:15    Official Photo                                                             

13:15 – 15:00    Lunch

Afternoon Session                                   

15:00 – 17:30    Bilateral Statements

17:30 – 18:00    Closing Session

Adoption of the Joint Communique

Closing remarks by the co-chairs

A link to the webcast of the events will be available at a later stage. Time for the press conference will be confirmed at a later stage.

Inquiries about the programme: Afghanistan2020@formin.fi

Other events

Monday, 16 November 2020 

Protect Education in Afghanistan

Despite the huge strides made on education in Afghanistan over the past two decades, enormous challenges remain. This event will highlight how donor countries, the Government of Afghanistan and the humanitarian community can best work together to protect the fragile gains on education since 2001. Panellists will discuss a range of topics, including girls' access to education, attacks on schools during the conflict, and links to child protection.

Organisers: Save the Children, Global Coalition to Protect Education from Attack, UNICEF, World Vision International

Time: Monday 16 November at 13.30 Geneva / 17.00 Kabul

The event will be hosted online and open to the public. More details will follow soon. For any questions, please contact Olof Blomqvist (olof.blomqvist@savethechildren.org).

Friday, 20 November 2020

High-Level Consultation – Return and Reintegration: Building a Future for all Afghans

Since the launch of the Support Platform for the Solutions Strategy for Afghan Refugees (SSAR Support Platform) at the Global Refugee Forum last December, a series of consultations have addressed greater responsibility-sharing to enable sustainable return and reintegration of the nearly 2.4 million Afghan refugees generously hosted in the neighbouring Islamic Republics of Iran and Pakistan. These include the Inaugural Meeting of the Core Group of the SSAR Support Platform (7 October),  the 7^th Meeting of the SSAR Quadripartite Steering Committee (1 October), and the High-Level Meeting on the SSAR Support Platform (6 July).

Building upon these, the UNHCR High Commissioner will convene a virtual High-Level Consultation on “Return and Reintegration: Building a Future for All Afghans,” on 20 November, at 10:00 a.m. (Geneva).  Panelists will include a broad range of partners, and consideration will be given to the linkage between inclusive planning for return and reintegration and the peace-building, market-building and State-building objectives of the Afghanistan National Peace and Development Framework II (ANPDF II) for 2012-2025. The deliberations will help to inform discussions at the 2020 Afghanistan Conference, which is being co-hosted by the Governments of Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, Finland and the United Nations from 23-24 November. 

Additional information, including the agenda and a link to listen to the consultations via Zoom, will be shared in due course. For additional information, please contact SSAR-Secretariat@unhcr.org.