Evidence of meeting #23 for Special Committee on the Canadian Mission in Afghanistan in the 40th Parliament, 3rd session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was afghanistan.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Conservative
Vice-President, Afghanistan-Pakistan Task Force, Canadian International Development Agency
Yes, it's a significant number, and we can get it to you before we leave this room.
Conservative
Liberal
Stéphane Dion Liberal Saint-Laurent—Cartierville, QC
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I have two brief questions.
Your answer to Mr. Dorion's question about whether the Taliban are gaining or losing ground concerned me. We can't say this is a purely military question that doesn't affect you, since the Taliban gaining ground would jeopardize your programs, your schools. In fact, it would jeopardize everything. So I am giving you a second chance to answer that question.
The other question dealt with capacity development, the possibility that the Afghans will act autonomously. Do you have studies that measure the results for that and your programs? If so, could this Committee be provided with those studies?
Vice-President, Afghanistan-Pakistan Task Force, Canadian International Development Agency
In answer to your first question, I'm not trying to avoid a question. In terms of CIDA's projects, I have seen no incursion that has caused interruptions. In some situations, there has been an impact on projects. There has been no project where the Taliban gaining ground has halted progress on a project.
I don't feel able to say whether they have gained or lost ground. In terms of our education projects in Kandahar, capacity development projects, local governance projects in Kandahar, and all the projects we have undertaken, I see only progress. Sometimes it's very slow. Sometimes it stops, but there are stops and there is progress.
In terms of capacity development studies, we can send you several. There are some on the current issues or efforts of various departments. They are the ones that play a leadership role in terms of developing education projects, for example, or the finance department where the Afghans themselves are doing the work. Previously, it was done by technical experts. We can give you that in the context of...
CGSO report on capacity-building and how we measure that. So we can just forward that.
Liberal
Anita Neville Liberal Winnipeg South Centre, MB
Thank you.
Thank you for being here.
Can you tell me how the UN resolution 1325 and the subsequent four other resolutions on women, peace, and security have guided your activity and how you are planning to build it into future development?
Vice-President, Afghanistan-Pakistan Task Force, Canadian International Development Agency
We're certainly very well aware of them, and we work with our colleagues at the Department of Foreign Affairs on developing impacts and statements that are made in those contexts. All we can say is that in every instance we take into account those resolutions and the fact that we have to continue to work in a situation where there are lines that we won't cross in capacity-building with regard to women.
I don't know exactly what you're seeking to do....
Melanie is the expert, so I'll turn it over to Melanie.
Director, Planning, Afghanistan-Pakistan Task Force, Canadian International Development Agency
Maybe not an expert, but maybe I could just add that we certainly were consulted on Canada's national action plan on the UN resolutions. As a sister department to the Department of Foreign Affairs, we'll be looking at the action plan very seriously in terms of how we can contribute through our work in Afghanistan to the indicators in that action plan.
Liberal
Anita Neville Liberal Winnipeg South Centre, MB
Will you be building in indicators on gender-based analysis? Will you be building peace and security indicators into that?
Director, Planning, Afghanistan-Pakistan Task Force, Canadian International Development Agency
That's actually part of our standard practice in terms of CIDA's planning process. So when we develop country strategies, they're always accompanied by a gender equality strategy that has specific measures. We also do, particularly in contexts such as Afghanistan, a conflict analysis as part of our country strategy process. So we'll be very much looking at those issues.
Liberal
Anita Neville Liberal Winnipeg South Centre, MB
The Auditor General indicated that there really has not been the capacity for gender-based analysis within most departments, and I'm pleased to hear that you have done these analyses. Are you in a position to table them with this committee?
Director, Planning, Afghanistan-Pakistan Task Force, Canadian International Development Agency
At this point they are under development. As Ms. Ducros described, we're in the process of developing our strategy moving forward, but with respect to internal capacity, one thing to point out is that we're in a very fortunate position on the task force. We actually have in-house gender equality expertise inside the task force itself.
Director, Planning, Afghanistan-Pakistan Task Force, Canadian International Development Agency
We have it within CIDA, within CIDA's task force.
Vice-President, Afghanistan-Pakistan Task Force, Canadian International Development Agency
Within the APTF.
Director, Planning, Afghanistan-Pakistan Task Force, Canadian International Development Agency
Yes, within the APTF. Actually we have a full-time gender equality specialist working right inside the task force who works with us both on strategic planning and on our more detailed program planning. That is a very special advantage we have in terms of taking forward seriously the questions you're raising.
Conservative
Conservative
Lois Brown Conservative Newmarket—Aurora, ON
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Perhaps my question should be directed toward Ms. Boyd, then, if you don't mind.
In Canada, in our own status of women objectives, we have identified as one pillar the participation of women in the electoral system, and we're looking at Afghanistan doing the same thing. I actually find it quite a dichotomy that we have, on one hand, great difficulty seeing girls get into school historically, and yet we're seeing that there are women who are being elected to office and we're encouraging female candidates.
Can you tell me what practical education we're assisting with in helping women succeed in those areas?
I should have said, Mr. Chair, I am sharing my time with Mr. Storseth.
Director, Planning, Afghanistan-Pakistan Task Force, Canadian International Development Agency
In advance of both the provincial council elections that took place in 2009 and also in advance of the parliamentary elections in 2010, we supported women candidates to participate in campaign schools, and those were very practical kinds of things. How do you speak in public? How do you network? How do you raise funds? What do you do about the resistance of your family to your participation in the political process? How do you formulate a platform? Then once the elections were finished, we went back and looked at how we could support the actual successful candidates. What does it mean to be a member of Parliament, particularly for women who are new members of Parliament? They may not fully understand the role of a member of Parliament, let alone how to be effective as a woman inside a very challenging context.
One of our partner organizations is looking at twinning incumbent female MPs with new female MPs. There are a variety of strategies that we're supporting.
Conservative
Lois Brown Conservative Newmarket—Aurora, ON
Perhaps we could expand on that and have them paired with members of Parliament in Canada.
