Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
I want to say
welcome to our witnesses.
I just want to take a moment, Ms. Golberg, to say thank you on behalf of Canadians, and Canadian women, in particular, for representing us so well when you were in Kandahar in Afghanistan. I think as women we see things a little differently, so it is truly a privilege for me to be here today. I am not a member of this committee normally, but I did sit in on it one time and saw very clearly that we do see things differently, and it's a privilege for me to be here again today. So thank you on behalf of other Canadian women and myself.
I want to get to some questioning about the human rights of women, because I think they are very, very important. When I was here last time, it was really surprising to me that we actually had members of this committee who thought it wasn't a fact that women were not going to school. That's why I say women see things a little differently: when we see other women being oppressed and abused, we really take it to heart.
So I want you to comment for me, if you could, because of your experience, and tell us how important it is for these women and young girls to be going to school. What have you seen, and how important is that?