Afghanistan committee  In 2001, only 700,000 children went to school in Afghanistan. They were all boys. The Taliban did not allow girls to go to school. We have gone from a total of 700,000 children in school in 2001 to over six million today, of which two million are girls. The situation in Afghanistan today is that more children are going to school than ever in the history of the country.

Afghanistan committee  Thank you. The Governance Support Office now has 10 people on staff, including two who are directly handle legal matters: one at the Department of the Interior and the other at the Justice Department. That second person is an Islamic law expert who brings very sound technical expertise to the national process as a whole.

Afghanistan committee  Thank you very much. Let me clear up the figures part right away. It has been an extraordinary program, this Microfinance Investment Support Facility. It has won international awards. In a very, very tough country, it has gone very far very quickly and it has done very, very well.

Afghanistan committee  Thank you very much for the question. I think it really would be useful, perhaps, to go through Canada's six priorities and how the crosswalk to human rights is important. If you take, for example, Canada's first priority, on security and the rule of law, we see the critical importance of security for all and the particular situation of women in that regard.

Afghanistan committee  Thank you very much, Mr. Chair, for the opportunity you have given me this morning to address the committee. Mr. Chairman, I am pleased to supplement the comments from my colleague from Foreign Affairs with some additional information concerning Canada's support of the promotion and protection of human rights in Afghanistan, particularly the human rights of women and girls.

Afghanistan committee  I will be as brief as possible. Thank you for your question. In fact, this program has allowed 700 projects in more than 500 communities to be successfully completed. Within the province of Kandahar alone, Canada is the main donor country, but it is not the only one. This is a national program funded through international contributions to a trust fund administered by the Department of Finance and the World Bank.

Afghanistan committee  Thank you very much. Everyone is impatient. We want to make as much progress as possible. Afghans are impatient at all levels as well. I think it is really important to know that in 2001 Afghanistan, in many respects, was worse than poor. When you are one of the poorest countries on the planet in per capita income terms and you have gone through 30 years of conflict and oppression that have destroyed all of your assets, then you have a triple jeopardy that you're coming back from.

Afghanistan committee  Thank you. Let me start. I'm just conscious of crowding my partner here. There are some things we know we can do that are just fundamental to sound public administration. It's helping them have a budget process, making that budget process transparent, helping Parliament deal with the budget process, having a procurement system that is fair, having a procurement system that is overseen, and having a procurement system that can meet an international standard.

Afghanistan committee  Yes.

Afghanistan committee  Thank you very much. I'll ask my colleague to follow through. Those are really pertinent questions. I think what is very clear that needs to be said right at the outset is that what we are doing in Kandahar and our effort in Kandahar is thoroughly rooted in Kandahar priorities that are explicitly part of the process within the Afghan government, both nationally and locally, at determining what they believe is most important.

Afghanistan committee  I quite understand the question. My sense is that it's probably a cumulative figure. Here's what we have that is different, going forward. One, we have a very focused set of priorities for Kandahar in areas that deal with things such as the delivery of basic services by public institutions to citizens, basic services in education, basic services in infrastructure, basic services in economic growth, and a clear focus on meeting humanitarian needs of refugees, of displaced persons, of the most vulnerable populations with respect to medical services.

Afghanistan committee  Thank you very much. I've finished that answer.

Afghanistan committee  No. I don't know where that figure comes from, but it may be a cumulative figure since our overall engagement in Kandahar began. In my view, that would not have been either a target or an annual figure.

Afghanistan committee  This is part of Canada's new engagement strategy for Afghanistan that was tabled in Parliament on June 10. That is a government decision taken in full consultation with Government of Afghanistan authorities and others.

Afghanistan committee  We've actually never had a target for Kandahar. What we have been able to accomplish in Kandahar at this point with the 17% of our resources, for example, from last year, you see in the results profile on that Kandahar map before you. What we have now for the first time is—