Thank you very much, Madam Chairman.
My colleague, Elissa, may want to amplify my remarks, as she has particular knowledge of Afghanistan.
But with regard to Canada's activities at the United Nations, we remain in the forefront of countries engaged on human rights. We're not currently a member of the Human Rights Council; we've just come off the council recently, but even as an observer we are exceptionally active.
With regard to Iran for example, Madam Chairman, for the eighth year now we've led a very high-profile resolution in the UN General Assembly on the human rights situation in Iran, a resolution that we believe is very helpful in sending a strong signal of encouragement to human rights defenders in Iran. In addition, we are very supportive of a resolution currently before the Human Rights Council to establish a special mechanism with regard to Iran. Our minister has been extremely vocal in expressing concerns with regard to the human rights situation in Iran.
A number of statements have been made; in fact, a very high number of statements have been made, including some very recently. So on the issue of Iran, Madam Chairman, we're at the forefront of the international community in expressing concern with regard to the human rights situation.