Aside from fundraising, participants of the conference also urged for improved coordination of the aid.

Afghan girls fetch for water in Kabul, capital of Afghanistan, June 11, 2008. Afghanistan government, in its effort to implement the Five-year Development Plan and alleviate poverty in the country, is going to appeal for 50 billion US dollars at a donors conference for Afghanistan which will be opened on Thursday in Paris with the attendance of over 60 countries and organizations.(Xinhua Photo)

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged for better management of the fund and intensified combat of corruption in Afghanistan.

Kai Eide, new special representative of the UN secretary-general for Afghanistan, urged the Afghan government to demonstrate "greater determination to improve the quality of administration, pursue – secure – greater accountability and to combat corruption more vigorously."

"It is a very fragile success and it must be consolidated," said Eide referring to the progress Afghanistan made in recent years.

He also vowed to better coordination of an aid in the Asian country, where corruption, drugs, and Taliban insurgents have posed great challenges to the government and international peace-keepers.

(Xinhua News Agency June 13, 2008)