Speaking on behalf of Canadian Women for Women in Afghanistan, our focus is mainly on education. The time when the Canadian Armed Forces were in Afghanistan was very helpful in providing support to aid agencies to continue their work there. We made tremendous gains in Afghanistan in the sector of education for girls and women, as well as for women in the workplace. I would say that the tremendous losses that have occurred since the Taliban takeover are quite tragic.
The regional aspect of the Taliban funding, despite their very restrictive ideology, is a very good question. Government actors like China and Russia continue to do work with the Taliban. This is problematic for others in the region, of course, and for the rest of the world, especially for women who are being denied an education. The Taliban continue to trade with Pakistan, and this was ongoing even before the Taliban takeover in 2021. We know that the funding the Taliban receives globally is from those who share their ideology.
During the time that the Canadian Armed Forces were there, again, we managed to do a lot of work. Canadian Women for Women in Afghanistan has been in that country since 1998. We operated the entire time the Canadian Forces were there. We found that we had a significant ability to do our work, as did other aid organizations.