Thank you, Ms. Lalonde. That was a very wide-ranging question.
I will not try to tell you that everything is for the best in the best of all possible worlds in Afghanistan. However, to the contrary, I believe that presenting you with a quarterly report, as we are doing, certainly points to progress in some sectors, such as education, the building of schools and progress with regard to security forces. Indeed, progress has been made, but we cannot forget that we are operating in a conflict zone and that progress is difficult. Nevertheless, progress has been made.
I would like to remind you that the Canadian Parliament has supported the objectives which are known to everyone and which are contained in the report. Every time my predecessors or myself have appeared before the committee, we have reported on progress based on a certain number of criteria. However, far be it from me, Ms. Lalonde, to claim that we have made extraordinary progress. We are moving forward in a difficult context, but we are moving forward nevertheless, and we ultimately hope that we will reach our final objective, which is to ensure that the Afghan government does well by its citizens. Everything we do is to reach that goal.