Mr. Chair, the member is quite right but I want to emphasize that it was not only about freeing the women and the girls. It was also about saving their lives. Not only were the women and girls captives in terms of their daily freedom and movements but they were also being denied health care. Doctors were not allowed to see these women and girls. They were denied education and nutrition. Women and girls in many cases were fed last if there was any food left.
A number of studies were done at the time when I was a minister where we were trying to identify how we could bring in the world food program to provide nutrition to some of the women and girls in some of the areas. We were always trying to work with the Taliban but sometimes we had to leave because they would not let us in.
At the same time, we found out through that study that women's bones were literally becoming soft because of a lack of nutrition. Their lives were literally at risk on a daily basis.
When we talk about human security, it has many faces. It is not just about being secure from bullets, which is of course important, but it is also about being secure in many other elements of their lives which can be just as dangerous to our existence as anything else.
I am really pleased with the fact this is probably the most visible benefit of all that has happened in Afghanistan, and the member is quite right about that.