I would like to respond to the extremely enlightened and constructive comment my colleague made. He is right, it is fairly difficult to monitor the situation. Two Liberal colleagues shared their time a little earlier, and one of them asked me in a very interested manner what we are doing specifically to help Afghan women. The other member suggested that we should withdraw from the area, since the heat is on, and that we should tell Afghan women to go back to the Dark Ages, and tell young girls to stop going to school and to submit to the Taliban regime.
However, I agree with my colleague, this position is a difficult one. Those were two very different five-minute periods. I agree that my colleague can raise the issue which I am here to speak about today, namely democracy. CIDA's approach is recognized everywhere. The countries where we work have congratulated us on our projects. We are getting good results.
I had an opportunity to visit Mali this summer. I met the auditor general of the only francophone African country which has an office of the auditor general. He told me that he was working closely with Ms. Sheila Fraser. I think that's a good sign. We have excellent methods. Canadians know just how good their Auditor General, Ms. Sheila Fraser, is. She agreed to help Mali's auditor general. He has already produced a first report and is about to come out with a second one. To be frank, we can be very proud of our work in developing countries.