Canada's priorities with respect to Afghanistan are, first of all, safe passage for vulnerable Afghans and for Canadians; the timely delivery of humanitarian assistance; the Taliban's respect for its international obligations, notably the fundamental rights of all Afghans, including women and girls; and coordination with partners on counterterrorism.
Clearly, the decision we all learned about yesterday, the Taliban's decision to send girls over the age of grade six home from school and not to allow them to go from home to school, is something that we think is absolutely unacceptable. We're very concerned about the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Afghanistan, and also about the Taliban's control of the rights of women and girls. This is but one indication.
On the humanitarian side, Canada has provided over $130 million in humanitarian aid, and we're working closely with UN humanitarian organizations to make sure it meets the needs of the most vulnerable Afghans.
In terms of what I would say on how this intersects with Canada's feminist foreign policy, there couldn't really be a better example of how Canada's feminist foreign policy makes a difference. We look at the assistance that we provide from the perspective of whether it will reach women and girls. We look at whether women in that humanitarian sector are actually able to be part of the workforce there. We look in terms of what more we would do to support other needs of the Afghan people in terms of the positions that Taliban is taking. Every chance we get, we advocate for the Taliban to respect the rights of women and girls.