Seven years after the toppling of the Taliban regime, the democratically elected Afghan government worked out a blueprint for the country's long-term development strategy. Its aim is to bring Afghanistan, one of the poorest countries in the world, to the globe's average standard-of-living level by the year 2020. International donors committed themselves to contribute a massive $50 billion towards this goal. But due to the complexity of the many factors involved in Afghanistan's reconstruction and development, the government's carefully devised plan and the already secured funds may yet prove insufficient to reach success. The deteriorating security, widespread poverty and global-scale opium production are but a few problems calling for swift reaction on the part of the government and its international partners. The international community must modify the nature of its activity in Afghanistan, by ceding more and more resources - with responsibility for their use - to the local authorities. And the Afghan government faces challenges such as fight against corruption and drug trafficking, and the training of cadres at all administrative levels.