GARDEZ - To promote participatory and accountable governance in the interest of Afghanistan’s development, participants at a UN-backed event in the capital of the southeastern Paktya province launched a civil society coordination group.

KABUL - Strengthening ties between agricultural business and government counterparts was the focus of a UN-backed meeting in Kabul, where community representatives and high-level officials met to discuss ways to foster growth in this critical sector of the Afghan economy.

MEHTERLAM - Examining ways to end a decades-long feud between two eastern Afghan tribes was the aim of a four-day Jirga in Mehterlam, involving high-level government officials.