Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you for joining us. CARE Canada, of course, is such a famous organization, it's actually part of the language. When you hear about “care” packages, it has come into the language from the existence of your organization.
I was very encouraged by the quite positive--I won't say over-optimistic, but certainly optimistic--statement that you're able to say that it is possible to empower women under the difficult circumstances that we are aware of...and perhaps exaggerate, because we see things in black and white from such a distance in Canada. So that's wonderful news.
I want to pay attention to your recommendations in terms of how Canada can help develop and be a more effective resource for that. The ambassador, who preceded you, seemed to recognize that this is probably an area of assistance that needs help and is one of the more vulnerable areas, and that organizations working on this type of activity are suppressed and not supported.
So I'm with you all the way on that, and I am delighted to know that you find the prospects very positive.
I do want help on one thing. My friend Mr. Rae chided me slightly for referring to the peace process as “ephemeral”, but that was only in terms of the reports. I'm glad to hear from Mr. Rae that the Quetta Shura is involved in possible talks for reconciliation.
I want your help with this question that I have. One of the things we heard up until recently was that the Taliban were making it a precondition for any talks that all foreign troops leave Afghanistan, without which we will have no talks. That obviously was not going to happen and therefore there was no possibility of any peace discussions.
I'm looking at your key recommendations on security here. I know that President Karzai has suggested that any peace talks have to happen with an acceptance of the constitution--quote, unquote. You are more specific than that in terms of guarantees, so I want to ask you two questions. One, are these guarantees something that would prevent any discussions from taking place with the Taliban? And two, what is it that the international community can do--other than talking about the importance of women's rights--if we are being also told to respect that the process of reconciliation and peace has to be an Afghan-led process?
In that context, I have a further question. The High Council for Peace is a body that was appointed recently. There is some question as to the number of women present, and of course in the context of male dominance, I look around this room and see that all the members of Parliament who are here are men, so we have to be aware of that as well in terms of what we do in this country.
Would you comment on that broad question? Are your recommendations ones that would prohibit peace discussions? If so, how do you get around it? And what is the role of Canada and other communities in how that peace process works, particularly in terms of support for Afghan women?