Thank you. Much of the progress that has been made, I would suggest, in Afghanistan has come about through the efforts of officials at Foreign Affairs over an extended period of time, since our arrival there, to determine where we could best present to this mission and to the people of Afghanistan projects that would be aimed specifically at elevating their quality of life. Whether that be through provincial reconstruction teams that have identified specific infrastructure programs, such as the building of roads, schools, hospitals, or buildings that are going to provide the very basic social services required in a country that has been so disjointed and so embroiled in conflict for so many years that this type of infrastructure hasn't existed, or building basic roads so that farmers can take alternative crops to larger centres and receive some remuneration for their efforts--farming throughout the country faced a real challenge in that regard. They can grow crops, but they simply can't get them to market.
Irrigation is also a huge problem, given the type of terrain and desert-like conditions that exist in part of that country. Some devastation and environmental degradation have occurred because of forest fires, which have really stripped away some of the basic vegetation from the land. A lot of that had to be determined early on by officials who went and engaged with local people. That diplomacy also involves going to those communities. Sometimes that involves officials of Foreign Affairs--and I feel a little bit choked up when I think about Glyn Berry, who was our Canadian diplomat killed in Afghanistan, and the type of work he was doing--meeting directly with tribal elders, meeting with governors and provincial representatives in parts of Afghanistan and trying to glean from them the necessary information for program delivery. I have nothing but admiration and praise for the diplomacy that has been carried out in a very direct and, I would suggest, a very efficient manner by officials from our country. CIDA officials, similarly, should be lauded for their efforts.
This is all part of the bigger issue that we're concerned about, which is, to use the expression, a whole of government approach, or the hearts and minds efforts we're making in Afghanistan to bring about a clear understanding. Most importantly, we're there to help; we're there to create a stable, functioning democracy that will allow the people of Afghanistan to get on with their lives and to get away from this terrible conflict that they've been living in and this oppression by successive administrations, which didn't recognize that women had a right to participate fully in society, that children and girls should go to school and have an education to advance their own well-being.
In five years there has been absolutely staggeringly remarkable progress made in many parts of the country. Other parts of the country remain very challenging. Canada, to use an expression that I heard very recently, got the short straw when it came to the part of Afghanistan that we're tasked with protecting and securing. In spite of that, we've been doing incredible work, and just as we have been in previous conflicts and struggles around the world, Canada is enormously respected by our international partners because of the heavy lifting we're doing in Afghanistan, because we didn't shy away from that challenge. And the soldiers and the development workers and the diplomats are all working in concert. They're working closely. They're communicating with one another. As we achieve more stability, as I said to Mr. Dosanjh, we'll be able to double our efforts on the development side.