By Judy Aita
Washington File United Nations Correspondant

United Nations -- The U.N. human rights rapporteur for Afghanistan pleaded for more contributions to help the devastated country rebuild its social structures, security system, and economy during meetings at U.N. headquarters in early November.

Presenting his annual report to the General Assembly, Kamal Hossain, the U.N. special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Afghanistan, said that "if you are to support the program for change from a devastated economy, from a society in which people have been deprived of their rights, security of persons, security of life, women's rights -- if you are to restore those rights there have to be resources made available" in excess of the $4,500 million pledges made at the Afghanistan donors conference in Tokyo earlier this year.

He stressed that funds and food are urgently needed to meet the survival needs of the Afghan people and reconstruction projects. Without those resources, Hossain said, it will be difficult, if not impossible, to realize the goals of the Bonn Agreement and improve the human rights situation in Afghanistan.

Although there are many worthy causes around the world needing aid, he said, "I do like to make an earnest plea for Afghanistan because of the long period of deprivation and the devastation they have suffered."

Each phase of the country's reconstruction "needs to be fulfilled as a base for the springboard for the next phase," Hossain said at a press conference November 6. "It is very important to see that there are no defaults on the comments made [so that] the capacity of the nascent Afghan state can replace the rule of the gun by the rule of law."

So far, 1.8 million refugees out of an estimated 5 million have returned home. "Even though security is not fully assured, people are perceiving it enough to start wanting to come back," Hossain said.

He added that there have been suggestions that the pace of refugee returns be slowed because the opportunities for making a livelihood have not been fully restored.

To underline the magnitude of the problem of restoring rights to the people of Afghanistan, the human rights expert pointed to the situation in the schools.

Hossain said he was encouraged that 45 percent of students enrolled in Kabul schools are girls. Also, women are teaching in schools and universities. Both were banned under Taliban rule.

"But the worrying news was that teachers have not been paid for 6 months," he pointed out.

Seven girls schools have been attacked throughout the country and some elements were distributing leaflets opposing education for young women. Nevertheless, Hossain said, local elders and others in the communities made the decision to rebuild the schools.

"Pockets of opposition are not the majority," he said. "The urge for even girls to go to school is there and widely shared and resources should be made available to make those opportunities available."

Hossain said that the girls and young women in Afghan refugee camps in Pakistan have been reluctant to give up the education they had been receiving in the camps. They wanted him to go to their home areas to see if schools were open and report back before they made the decision to return to Afghanistan.

"There are no legal barriers. The government is very proactive and supportive of claims for jobs and access to schools," he said.

Hossain said that the number one priority in Afghanistan is to replace the rule of the gun by the rule of law. This required the development of a national police force to maintain internal security and defense.