I would like to start by thanking the Standing Committee on National Defence for inviting the Afghan Women's Organization to speak about the Canadian presence in Afghanistan, particularly as it relates to women.
As an Afghan Canadian woman, I am grateful for the role Canada is playing in securing and developing my war-torn country of origin. Like my fellow Afghans in Afghanistan and the overwhelming majority of Afghans in Canada, we support the presence of Canadian and international forces in Afghanistan. We are grateful for the partnership and solidarity of the Canadian people. We firmly believe that the international community has an important role to play in bringing peace and security for Afghanistan. By doing so, stability is assured for the rest of the world.
Earlier this month the Afghan Women's Organization held a national conference on the civil participation of Afghan women in Canada, during which 300 delegates passed a resolution supporting Canada's mission in Afghanistan. This resolution, which outlines our recommendations for Canada's role in Afghanistan, has been sent to the Parliament's members. It is the base for much of my presentation today.
Turning to an analysis of Canada's commitment in Afghanistan, the Afghan Women's Organization is concerned that the current debate about Canada's mission in Afghanistan oversimplifies and politicizes the very complex conflict and humanitarian crisis in our country of origin. We do not believe that the choice for Canadian policy should be limited to complete withdrawal or maintaining the current military mission in its present form. While Canada's military presence is essential, we also believe that Canada and its international partners can and must use a more balanced approach in helping bringing peace and security to the country of Afghanistan.
Concerning this need for a better balance, international assistance to Afghanistan has two essential components: military and developmental assistance. We believe the balance must be realigned in favour of greater emphasis on humanitarian and development work.
Canada's commitment of $100 million per year through to 2010-11 places it among the five top donor countries to Afghanistan. While the money allocated for reconstruction, reducing poverty, and strengthening Afghans' governance will certainly make a positive contribution, it is only a fraction of the estimated $4 billion that will be dedicated to military expenses by 2009.
The experience of other countries recovering from war tells us that more money and support are needed from Canada and the international community to strengthen governance and civil society.
At present, funds are insufficient to cover even the basic survival needs of the Afghan population. There's a $6 million shortfall in the amount requested by the UN agencies to respond to the needs of the estimated 80,000 people who have been displaced by the intensified fighting and drought over the years.
In pointing this out, we also want to recognize the efforts of the Canadian government to respond to the specific needs of women, such as the recently announced $1.75 million grant for the programs supporting the maternal health of women and literacy in Kandahar province; however, we believe Canada still needs to spend more on development.
A different military approach.
The presence of the Canadian military is essential to stabilize and support the current political process in Afghanistan. However, the stability of Afghan society is threatened not only by Taliban fighters but also by powerful warlords--as my friend stated very well--and their militias, who control large parts of the country and many of the drug lords. This means that the military needs to review its strategy, which targets only the Taliban. Disarmament and demobilization of armed groups in the country are necessary.
The Canadian military and its allies also need to reassess their combat strategy, which inflicts great harm on the civilian population. Current and past military operations cause civilian casualties and property damage, resulting in internal and external displacements of the people.
Furthermore, the tactic of launching operations and retreating to their bases after bombing villages is ill-advised. Afghanistan requires both security and development to exist hand in hand in order to achieve measurable success. Currently we feel there is too much focus given to combat operations. More troops are required to ensure civilian protection and stability and to promote economic and social development throughout the country.
Linking security and economic development.
So far, economic development in Afghanistan has been progressing at a very slow pace and has not resulted in tangible improvement in the lives of ordinary citizens. Basic necessities such as drinking water, electricity, and roads are still in poor condition. Expeditious development of the basic infrastructure is desperately needed. Lack of security is related to the neglect of economic development in Afghanistan. This war-torn country has an extremely high level of unemployment.
A greater role for civil society and supporting women's development.
A strong civil society is vital for the successful reconstruction of Afghanistan. However, support to civil society organizations has been inadequate over the past five years. Civil society organizations are much more efficient and effective than the government in addressing many social issues and needs. For example, the many obstacles and limitations that Afghan women confront are best addressed by community and non-governmental organizations.
Women require special attention in Afghanistan because they have experienced a great deal of hardship throughout the years of the war and continue to live in poverty and suffer from discrimination and violence. My colleague Ariane has spoken about the suffering of Afghan women. Empowerment of women can be achieved not only by giving them political rights as adopted in the constitution. Doing so also requires empowerment of their economic conditions and elimination of discrimination against them. Many women continue to live in extreme poverty. Three decades of war and destruction have created hundreds of thousands of war widows who are the heads of their households. For these reasons, providing training and employment to women should be a priority for development projects.
Policy recommendations for the Government of Canada.
In order to bring real and sustainable peace and security to Afghanistan, we urge the Government of Canada to coordinate with its NATO and ISAF partners to: ensure military operations go hand in hand with civilian protection, supporting good governance and rule of law and promoting reconstruction and developmental programs; comply with international humanitarian law in military operations by taking every measure to avoid civilian casualties; confront all actors responsible for insecurity and violence in the country, and this means protecting Afghan civilians from regional war lords, illegal armed groups, as well as the Taliban; implement an effective disarmament program and strategies to address the drug trade; commit sufficient resources and troops to carry out an effective security and peacemaking mission throughout the country and develop appropriate military strategies for different regions of the country; support the development of civil society institutions, particularly women's civil society; establish new and enhance existing connections between civil society institutions in Canada with those in Afghanistan; expedite economic development in order to eliminate poverty; and continue to support the professionalization of Afghan police and army through sustained and long-term training and funding commitments.
I thank you for your attention.