We'll bring this committee meeting to order. We have met already for one hour on a different subject.
This is meeting number 58 of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development. In this next hour, appearing as an individual is Sarah Chayes, founder of Arghand, a cooperative in Kandahar.
Ms. Chayes was a Paris reporter for National Public Radio, based in Paris. She was dispatched to cover a number of conflict and post-conflict zones. She left reporting in 2002 and remained in Afghanistan, and that is where she is coming from, via teleconference this morning.
Ms. Chayes has written a book on post-Taliban Kandahar, entitled The Punishment of Virtue, and that was published in 2006.
We welcome you this morning from Kandahar.
Before we get to you, we will also have with us this morning, here in our committee room, testimony from the Senlis Council. Norine MacDonald is president and lead field researcher, security and development policy group.
We welcome you.
We're also going to take some time at the end of the meeting for some committee business. At approximately quarter to or ten to eleven we'll do that very briefly.
Welcome to our guests who are here in the committee room.
And also from Afghanistan, welcome.
We will give each of you an opportunity to give an initial presentation. We'll listen to both presentations, about 10 minutes each, if that's all right, and then we will go into the first round of questioning, and each member will have an opportunity to question you.
Perhaps we will have our first presentation from Kandahar.
Welcome, and thank you for being a part of the foreign affairs committee this morning.