Thanks very much.
In the washroom consultation I learned the difference between the formal process around the jirga and the shura process in the local villages. How do we do a better job in terms of process?
Almost half of our development money for Canada is going to Afghanistan now. How do we make sure that money is being well spent? How do we track the dollars to make sure we're getting results for the money that's being spent? It seems to be a lot of money. The money we give to UNICEF or the money we give in these big cheques, compared to money being spent by the military in their cash-for-work program, and compared to the kinds of things that we know in micro-credit could be changing the lives of women--are we giving the money to the right people? Are we tracking it enough?
In terms of balance, it seems that we have lots of boots on the ground in soldiers, but the staffing for CIDA and Foreign Affairs is extraordinarily thin and doesn't seem to have the capacity to actually track what happens when you give the money. As they said, does this group of women really get the money to make this, or did somebody just go to the bazaar and buy it? I think that was what Sarah Chayes had said to us. Without that kind of accountability and tracking, we may not be doing what you would want. Do you feel that our dollars are making as much of a difference on the ground as they could be? Is there anything in terms of process that we should be doing differently?