Thank you very much,
Mr. Chair, for the opportunity you have given me this morning to address the committee.
Mr. Chairman, I am pleased to supplement the comments from my colleague from Foreign Affairs with some additional information concerning Canada's support of the promotion and protection of human rights in Afghanistan, particularly the human rights of women and girls.
We have an established track record of supporting institutions that protect and promote human rights in Afghanistan. Notable among these initiatives is our support to the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission. We are currently providing $7 million to enable the commission to implement its three-year action plan. This will make Canada the lead donor to this important Afghan institution.
Under Afghanistan's constitution, the commission is mandated to promote and protect human rights by monitoring and investigating complaints of all alleged human rights violations. In the context of today's discussion, the commission is also playing an important role in Afghan responses to the Shia personal status law.
Beyond our direct support to the commission, Canada is supporting several initiatives that are enhancing access to justice for Afghans. Canada recently announced support to the Ministry of Justice's human rights support unit. This unit is responsible for assisting Afghan government agencies to incorporate and internalize human rights in their policies, legislation, and respective areas of responsibility.
At a very practical level, we've been supporting an initiative of the International Criminal Defence Attorneys Association and the International Legal Foundation to improve the fairness of the Afghan criminal justice system through the provision of legal aid to destitute Afghans.
Within this broader human rights agenda, Canada has paid particular attention to the human rights of women. With CIDA's support, Rights and Democracy is playing a leading role in the reform of family law, an issue that particularly touches on the human rights of women and children.
I am pleased to see that Mr. Beauregard and Mr. Panossian will be appearing before the committee in less than an hour.
The $5 million Rights in Practice initiative comprises a very practical aspect, having opened legal aid clinics in six provinces to improve women and girls' access to the formal justice system.
In addition to its human rights-specific work, Canada is providing significant support to programs that are promoting the rights of women and children, particularly girls. As part of Canada's six priorities in Afghanistan, we are supporting a full range of projects that improve education, maternal and infant health, women's access to the labour market and their political participation. Our contribution to enhancing access to education, particularly for girls, is widely known.
The Prime Minister over the course of the last 24 hours has made an announcement in Afghanistan in this regard.
Canada is also recognized as a lead donor to the Education Quality Improvement Program, a national program that is supporting the Ministry of Education to deliver quality education services to girls and boys by building the capacity of communities to manage learning activities, by investing in human resources including female teachers and by constructing and rehabilitating schools.
So we have a portfolio of initiatives that are strengthening as well women's capacities as economic actors, including through access to credit and vocational training. Of 440,000 clients reached through business and financial services across Afghanistan through Canadian-supported programs, approximately two-thirds are women. We are making important contributions to the health of women and children through initiatives that are promoting access to essential high-quality health care, immunization, food, and nutrition.
Since 2005 we've had a gender adviser in the Ministry of the Interior. She's been extraordinarily successful, in our view, in working on some of the most difficult and sensitive issues facing women in Afghanistan and has introduced gender-specific programs into the Afghan National Police, including family response units for cases of domestic violence, staffed by female police officers. Most recently, Canada is focusing attention on women's political participation, in the context of the upcoming elections in 2009.
While much of work is through large national programs, we recognize the important role of Afghan civil society in advancing progress and giving voice to the aspirations of Afghans with respect to the situation of women and girls. Our Responsive Fund for the Advancement of Women is a quick-response mechanism that provides small, strategic support to these organizations.
For example, through RFAW, Canada is supporting the training of 300 female and male journalists to raise their awareness of children's rights, gender equality and the participation of women.
Without question, these initiatives are making a difference in the lives of many women and girls. However, progress is painstaking, and huge challenges remain. Our immediate focus with respect to the Shia personal status law is to identify additional initiatives during the review period that can help address the failures in the underlying process that led to the version of the law signed in March.
We are working, therefore, with existing partners such as Rights & Democracy, the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission, Afghan parliamentarians, and civil society organizations to support their effectively playing their respective roles in the review process. Our core objective remains to build Afghan capacity and participation, inside and outside of government, to address the daunting human rights challenges that have held back progress for too long.
Mr. Chairman, in conclusion,
Women in Afghanistan continue to face many hardships and challenges. They continue to be exposed to violence and poverty, and deprived of basic human rights to property, education and literacy. Change will be slow and there will be setbacks along the way.
However, we cannot overlook the progress women have made since 2001. Today, Afghan women represent 27% of Afghan parliamentarians, more than 2 million girls are enrolled in school, and more than 290,000 women have accessed small loans and savings services across the country. Afghan women themselves have been catalysts and leaders of development along the way.
There are no silver bullets, Mr. Chairman, for making progress on human rights. History shows that progress and the promotion and protection of human rights most often consists of small steps taken over long periods. If anything, however, recent events in Afghanistan have deepened our engagement with Afghanistan on questions of vital importance, such as the status of women and girls. Many Afghans working on human rights have told us that recent events have been a wake-up call that can place them in a stronger position and allow them to come together with a common and stronger voice.
Mr. Chairman, we'd be happy to answer the committee's questions on the Shia personal status law and our more general support to the human rights of women and girls in Afghanistan.
Thank you very much.