Afghan President Hamid Karzai attended a high-level meeting at the United Nations headquarters on Sunday and along with UN officials assessed the progress made so far by his government and international forces in reinstating peace.

Karzai, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and envoys from 17 countries discussed the status of programs already implemented, which are aimed at bringing peace and security in the strife-torn country.

The leaders agreed to increase their efforts and stick by the plans drawn during past meetings. The discussions were centered on the so-called Afghanistan Compact, a five-year development plan elaborated by the Afghan administration and members of the international community last year.

The plan set several benchmarks for the Kabul government in the economic, social, security and political sectors. Future measures would continue to have the Afghanistan Compact as backbone and the signatory states have reiterated “their commitment to the emergence of Afghanistan as a stable, peaceful, prosperous and democratic member of the family of nations.”

Diplomats discussed the recent flare-up of violence, activities of al-Qaeda and Taliban groups and the main source of revenue for extremism- illegal drug trade. They criticized once again the terrorist attacks targeting security forces, government officials and innocent civilians.

Also, members of the international community pledged to continue their support actions on military and financial levels. Karzai and the other attendants agreed that Afghan security troops have to continue their training programs under the supervision of foreign forces.

The UN envoy for Afghanistan, German diplomat Tom Koenigs said foreign parties have backed the Kabul government as pledged and directed funds to the country ravaged by internal feuds for more than two decades.

Koenigs said financial aid has to be boosted along with the number of security forces, because there are still areas controlled by insurgents and drug traffic has reached unprecedented levels, as recent UN reports said.

The International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) has set up bases across Afghanistan and is in charge of security in Kabul, along with providing assistance to Afghan forces in different key regions of the country.

A reconstruction programme has been initiated and the ISAF contributes intensively to it. The multi-national force trains national police and defence forces, in order to hand over security to them when stability and governance are restored in Afghanistan.

Last week, the UN Security Council approved an extension of the mission in the South Asian country with a 17-0 vote. However, Russia doesn’t share the same opinion and refrained from voting.

Incertitude has slowly surrounded the contribution of Germany and Canada, where political debates over the Afghan mission became arduous, with many politicians asking for a complete withdrawal from the region.