We have a separate budget for Afghanistan, over and above our $9.2 million operating budget. CIDA has given us approximately $1 million a year to undertake a specific project, namely to strengthen the rights of women in Afghanistan. Ours is the only agency to deal with that issue.
You have no doubt been following the family law reform for both the Shi'ite and Sunni communities. As indicated by Mr. Guilbeault, we worked with a committee of experts to support the government and civil society organizations throughout the process, in order to help them shape the public policies that will be based on the legislation. That is our program. We are working in six provinces with a number of women's and civil-society organizations. We have conducted training and produced radio programs to talk with women about their rights. We have often had to deal with the Department of Justice and the department responsible for the Status of Women.
Those are our current activities, but we will have to ensure follow-up. I have discussed these matters with the Afghan minister responsible for the Status of Women during my visit there. Once the legislation is implemented, there will be a family code. We have to establish a mechanism to inform Afghans of the existence of those laws and their meaning. Following that, it will be important to set up family courts or institutions to which people can turn to resolve their problems.
There is currently only one family court in Afghanistan, located in Kabul. In the rest of the country, the normal process is through traditional courts. Women must also have access to legal services. In the six provinces where we have a presence, we are currently supporting legal clinics that specialize in the rights of women and children. There is a lot of ground to cover, and those efforts are not enough. If we are to continue beyond 2011, we will have to build on the experience we have acquired and the contacts we have established on the ground, and continue to work along the same lines. Simply put, this is unfinished business.
You are no doubt aware that it is a great privilege for us to have as a member of our board of directors Ms. Sima Samar, the president of Afghanistan's Independent Human Rights Commission. She has long been an active human rights defender. Recently, the Governor General informed Ms. Samar that she had been awarded the Order of Canada, and she will travel to Canada to receive it in the next few weeks. She is a real asset, and we have developed very close ties with her country.