By Judy Aita
Washington File United Nations Correspondent

United Nations -- Warning that the rights of women and the emerging democracy of Afghanistan could be undermined if violence resurfaces in the country, a minister of the Afghan Interim Authority urged the Security Council April 25 to consider expanding the International Security Force now stationed around Kabul.

Dr. Sima Samar, minister for women's affairs of the Afghan Interim Authority, said that "women in Afghanistan are finally beginning to see a little light after a very long darkness, but the gains that have been made in the past four months could easily be lost unless security is greatly improved."

"Without immediate expansion of international peacekeeping forces, peace, democracy, and reconstruction and the restoration of woman's rights and human rights will not be possible in our country," she said.

"The rights of women are particularly at risk by the absence of security," Dr. Samar said. "Women continue to face violence and worry about the imposition of Taliban-like restriction unless more security is provided."

"The inclusion of women in the Loya Jirga may be undermined and the distribution of identification cards to enable women to participate in future elections imperiled," the minister said.

Addressing a public meeting of the Security Council, Dr. Samar, a physician and one of two women ministers in the Karzai government, said that great progress has been made in the four months since the Bonn peace conference. Afghans have moved quickly to put in place a political process and a government framework for the daunting task of reconstruction.

The Afghan people stand behind the peace and pledge that they will work to bring about stability, the minister said, but one cannot expect a four-month-old government to respond to the level of challenges that are the result of more than 20 years of destruction and war.

"We are told that an expansion of peacekeeping forces is too expensive, but another cycle of war will pose an even greater expense to the world. It will be costly in terms of the loss of human lives. Another period of violence will also risk the money and support that has already been invested in support of the peace process," Dr. Samar said.

The minister addressed the concerns that had been raised about expanding the International Security Force (ISF) of about 5,000 troops which is currently headed by Britain and stationed in and around Kabul.

Mentioning the fear that the peacekeepers face greater risk of kidnapping and killing if they are extended throughout the country, Dr. Samar said that "the risk may be there and we must respond to it by putting everything in place to give these soldiers the proper support so they are not left vulnerable."

"But if we do not act against these problems that Afghanistan faces, the risk will be even greater," destroying the country's last real chance to reverse decades of violence and instability, she said.

"I know what I ask for is not easy, but I ask the leaders of all nations to carefully consider their responsibilities and balance the political and economic costs of expanding International Security Force and the great risk of not taking action and strengthening security," the minister said.

Dr. Samar also said that the amount of aid the interim government has received is very small compared to what has been pledged and the tremendous needs of the country.

"We need financial resources to demonstrate that peace creates changes and the condition of people's lives," she said.

Undersecretary General for Political Affairs Keiran Prendergast also urged the international community to "speed up the delivery of its assistance and to broaden the scope to include still imminent needs related to security."

Briefing the council on the overall situation in the country, Prendergast said that a matter of great concern is that funds pledged in Tokyo for development and reconstruction activities "have been extremely slow to arrive."

"While donors may understandably want to wait for more stability before disbursing funds, we must also recognize that implementing rehabilitation and reconstruction projects will greatly help to bring about that stability," he said. "It is a chicken and egg situation."

"Provision for reconstruction assistance can, under certain conditions, promote conditions of law and order. We would therefore urge member states to meet their pledge so that reconstruction and development funding can be used to help promote a secure environment for political and economic change," the undersecretary general said.