The largest military offensive since 2002 is now underway in the Helmand province in Afghanistan. At the same time, a consensus is emerging that the conflict in this country can ultimately not be solved by military means. I have consistently advocated the need to prepare the ground for a political process, which could lead to a political settlement. Military operations must therefore be conducted in a way that does not close the space for efforts to initiate such a process.

At the recent London Conference, more than 70 countries and organizations agreed to create a trust fund that would help integrate Taliban and other insurgents who accept to stop fighting. The details of how this fund will work, who will be targeted, and how incentives will be provided, remain to be worked out.

When the Haitians will have received their life-saving emergency food, water and health care, the world must invest in adequate risk reduction for this disaster ridden nation. Or do we want to continue to administer expensive band-aids every five years for the rest of this century?

In every big disaster the same things happen:  There is too much focus on international relief, while local efforts and national preparedness are largely ignored. The thousands rescued by community activists remain unregistered - those saved by international groups produce global headlines. The many graphic stories of victims receiving or not receiving external aid overshadow the main lessons from Haiti, from the tsunami and from Hurricane Katrina: most lives, limbs and livelihoods were lost needlessly. Simple preparedness and prevention measures agreed by nations at the 2005 World Conference on Disaster Reduction have already saved countless lives in other Caribbean islands and elsewhere. But we have failed to give the people of Haiti their first line of defence against recurrent hurricanes, floods, mudslides and earthquakes.