UN Chronicle.

• Position: Editorial

Our cover photograph, of a young Afghan girl carrying an even younger boy, personifies different aspects--war and displacement--of an even grimmer problem: the scarcity of hope. Over much of its modern existence, Afghanistan has been burned by war set alight from outside, as well as kindled internally. This fire has been fuelled by abject poverty, a shattered infrastructure and religious and ethnic strife.

The events of 11 September 2001 have made it clear that the only hope for peace in Afghanistan, and across all borders, is to combat poverty and support democracy and good governance. What remains is for countries to not only rally around the defeat of a symptom--a regime that inspired terror at home and supported it abroad--but also to make the concrete, sustained commitments necessary to construct the underpinnings of a new infrastructure as a foundation of hope for the Afghan people.

Without sustainable development, without institutions of democratic good governance, without hope, peace will always remain elusive, and conflict and terrorism will continue to feed on poverty, corruption and despair. The International Conference on Financing for Development (Monterrey, March 2002) and the World Summit on Sustainable Development (Johannesburg, August-September 2002) are opportunities for both developed and developing countries to demonstrate to the poor and the powerless that there is cause for hope, and a will to make a difference.

Our...