Ted Menzies speaks at the Southern Alberta Council on Public Affairs about Canada's role in Afghanistan

May 24, 2007

A little over a month ago, I traveled to Afghanistan in my role as Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of International Cooperation. It is remarkable how great an impact the trip had on me personally, as I was able to see firsthand the effects of Canada’s involvement in Afghanistan.

I want to tell you a little story before I begin. I think it is important to share this, because to me, it illustrates the limited perspective that we in Canada have of Afghanistan
On our last day in the country, Minister Verner and I travelled outside Canada’s military base in Kandahar, or ‘outside the wire’ as the Canadian media term such trips. Our goal was to visit Canadian aid projects to assess firsthand the progress being made.

We traveled by military convoy to the town of Sola Kalay, about 25 kilometres from the Kandhar base where we sat down with a local community council to discuss the irrigation project they were undertaking with the help of Canadian funding.

Across the field were workers, men, women and children who had stopped to watch the arrival of our military convoy and who seemed curious about our purpose for being there.

We asked our escorts if it would be possible to meet these local Afghans and to chat with them. When the Canadian soldiers approached them, I was amazed by how fast the children began running to our troops.

They were smiling and shouting ‘’ball, ball’’ because Canada’s military personnel are known for providing balls and toys for the children of Kandahar to play with.

It struck me that, while I am well versed in Canada’s role in Afghanistan and the names and types of projects our aid dollars fund, I had not until this trip fully internalized that our aid dollars, our soldiers, police and development workers are helping individuals.
Men, women and children. Children like my own son and daughter were, years ago. Children running around, laughing and playing, just as I expect my beautiful infant granddaughter will be doing in just a couple of years.

When we talk about aid to Afghanistan we talk in millions. Millions of children going to school. Millions of children under the age of five being immunized for polio and the measles. Millions being invested in this project or with that NGO which will in turn help millions of Afghans, like the ones pictured here, to improve their lives in some way. Millions - It can be hard to relate to.

But if you take a look at the faces of these children, you may see what I saw. Young children with a hope, a quick smile and a dream of a better life.

At the end of the day, that’s why Canada is in Afghanistan and why our soldiers are quick with a toy or a ball. Because these kids are just like the kids our soldiers left at home.

And that may be what Canadians are missing in the stories aired by our media. The human element.

I believe that there is something unique to the Canadian character that makes us ideally suited for this mission. We are moved by the human condition. And as a result, Canada is setting a gold standard in inter-operability between military and aid workers. We have much to be proud of.

I would like to take you through my visit and explain to you how Canada is working with the democratically elected government of Afghanistan to rebuild the country after decades of war and destruction.

I would like you to look at the photographs we took from the air as we were landing at the Canadian Forces base at Kandahar airfield.

In the top right hand corner you will see that I’ve indicated Camp Nathan Smith, which is the headquarters' of Canada’s Provincial Reconstruction Team where some of our Canadian military personnel and our development staff are located. Also based there are Foreign Affairs staff, members from the RCMP and Correctional Services personnel.

You’ll notice from this perspective, that the Kandahar area is absolutely parched. In this landlocked country, water is not that easy to come by.

The following two slides are low altitude aerial views of Kandahar City as seen from a helicopter flying from KAF to the PRT.

This is Kandahar.

Afghanistan is embracing democracy after years of oppressive theocratic rule by the Taliban and prior to that, under the Communist rule of the Soviet Union.

Canada is working hard to help Afghanistan develop its new democracy. We are there at the invitation of the democratically elected government of Afghanistan.

We are on a mission that is fully supported by the United Nations and are working side by side with 36 countries that have a military presence in the country and close to 60 development nation partners.

I am here today because I believe that Canadians need to understand what Canada is doing in Afghanistan.

Afghanistan is a hot topic in the news media, but more often than not, the stories we are exposed to, give short shrift to the development part of the equation.

Canada’s development workers, soldiers and police are helping Afghans pursue their legitimate aspirations of peace and security and to guarantee a better future for their children.

While many challenges remain, the progress made by the people of Afghanistan since the fall of the Taliban regime has been remarkable.

The work we are doing is providing concrete, measurable results and changing the lives of the people of Afghanistan, especially the lives of women and children.

Christopher Alexander, a Canadian and a United Nations Special Representative recently appeared before Canada’s before Canada’s Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development and said:

So I'd like to start by congratulating Canada…. It's a very proud occasion for me as a Canadian to be able to report to all of you that that role within the United Nations family for Canada and for Canadians remains extremely prominent and extremely well appreciated at all levels in Afghanistan as a society.

While I have the utmost respect for our Canadian media, it is true that most of the coverage we see and hear in print and on radio and television, has focused on our military mission in Kandahar.

To a degree this is understandable, given the devastating losses the Canadian Forces have suffered and given that, in just a few short years, we as Canadians have been asked to shift our perception of the Canadian solider from blue-helmeted Peacekeeper, to active combatant.

I’ll talk about this perception a little later, but for now I’d like to repeat that there is another, very important side the this story.

The development story. There are 34 provinces in Afghanistan. In 33 of them, development and reconstruction are taking place in relative peace and stability.

In the 34th, Kandahar province, Canada is working with its NATO allies to banish the Taliban in order to further advance the reconstruction work already underway.

I would like to talk about some of the most significant results that have been achieved in Afghanistan; results that would not be possible without the contribution of our Canadian Forces, development workers and diplomats.

As I explained, the reason the Minister of International Cooperation and I took this trip in April, was to see first-hand the results of Canada’s investment in development projects in Afghanistan.

But before I do, I’d like to remind you that the people of Afghanistan are emerging from a period that can only be described as terrifying.

The crimes committed by the Taliban against the people of Afghanistan, especially the women of Afghanistan, will no doubt go down in history as one of the most heinous periods of the modern era.

While many of us have forgotten the stories of abuse that emerged from Afghanistan under the Taliban regime, most Afghan women remember these atrocities vividly.

Under the Taliban…
• Girls and women not permitted to go to school or work
• Public baths, the only means of hygiene, were closed to women
• Access to health care denied to women
• Women not permitted to leave home unaccompanied by a male family member
• Public stonings commonplace for minor infractions
• Things like laughing or flying a kite severely punished

I’d like to read you this quote from an Afghan woman as reported in La Presse a few weeks ago.

“He then explained that I had committed three infractions. I was seated in the front of the car. Forbidden. I laughed. Forbidden. And I was walking around with a man who was neither my husband nor my brother. Forbidden. That was them. The Taliban.”

The advances in Afghanistan since this dark period of time not so long ago, are tremendous.

This is a photo of the BRAC Afghanistan Bank; BRAC (Building Resources Across Communities) is an important partner in Afghanistan and delivers projects in microcredit and education, especially for girls.

Several years ago, the existence of such a bank would have been unthinkable.

During our trip, the Minister of International Cooperation and I attended the opening of the Kabul office of the Mennonite Economic Development Associates or MEDA. Canada provided $4.95 million in funding to MEDA last October.

This project aims to help 1,500 women develop horticulture operations in home-based gardens, growing fruits and vegetables to supplement family diets and generate income. Managed by MEDA, the project will be implemented over four years, benefiting over 5,000 members of the families of the women involved.

One of the greatest success stories to emerge from Afghanistan is the impact that the Microfinance Investment Support Facility for Afghanistan or MISFA is having on the lives of Afghans especially the women.

The MISFA program provides small loans of $100 to $150 to Afghan entrepreneurs to start a business. With the funds, the recipients do such things as open a bakery, a tailoring shop, purchase a farm animal, a sewing machine, a loom or other tools to begin their business.

Since February 28, over 325,000 Afghans, almost three-quarters of them who are women, have obtained small loans and saving services. Each month the program reaches an average of 10,000 new clients.

Canada is the largest donor to MISFA having provided 56 million dollars to date; 28 million dollars this past year.

We met with recipients of the MISFA program who explained just how this program has literally changed them from being hopelessness and living in abject poverty, to becoming entrepreneurs, not unlike those of us here who are running our own small businesses.
The businesses these MISFA recipients are operating are creating jobs, feeding families and allowing Afghans, especially women to take control of their lives.

But what do programs like MISFA mean in terms of numbers overall for Afghanistan?

According to testimony provided in committee here in Canada by Chris Alexander of the United Nations, the Afghan (non-poppy, legitimate) economy rose from $ 3.4 billion US in 2002 to $7.9 billion in 2006. It more than doubled in size.

But perhaps more importantly to some, since we hear about the poppy issue whenever there is an Afghan story in the news, the growth of legitimate economy has outpaced the growth of the illegal economy.

Per capita income, which was $150 US annually, has now risen to well above $300.

This growth is the direct result of programs like the MISFA program and others that Canada is supporting.

As I bring you through some of the numbers, I’d like you to remember that the term millions and billions are hard to relate to.

So I’d like you to try and put the big picture I am talking about, into a more human perspective.

In this picture are two women I met who are recipients of small loans from the MISFA program.

So how does Canada work in Afghanistan?

This is a photo taking at the Canada’s Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) headquarters in Kandahar.

Out of this facility, partners and development workers, such as the ones pictured here, play a vital role in our work in Kandahar. There is no question that the conditions they work under are difficult, but they are extremely dedicated to the jobs they do.

Canadian PRT staff comes from the Canadian International Development Agency as well as from our military and police forces. At the PRT headquarters, Canadian staff meet and work with non-government organizations there in country to help the people of Afghanistan.

Here in this picture are representatives of the:
• World Food Program (WFP)
• United Nations Human Settlements Program (UN-HABITAT)
• United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)
• United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF)
• Ministry of Rural Rehabilitation and Development (MRRD)

One of the things that our PRT does is help the people in local villages set up community development councils or CDC’s as they are called.

These councils democratically elect their membership from the local village and then the council decides what the village needs. It could be a school, a road or in the case of the council we met with, irrigation for the local fields.

After the CDC has determined what project they would like to begin, Canada will fund the project and if needed, provide experts who will help teach the Afghans how to do it themselves.

This is a critical component of the way Canada does aid. We help the Afghans help themselves. We do not go into a village, decide what to do and then build it and leave.

We create opportunities for the Afghans to take control of their lives. And it’s working.

In fact Seema Patel, the Lead Project Consultant, Post-Conflict Reconstruction Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington DC said when testifying before Canada’s Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development:

The UK and Canadian soldiers are the most effective ones in the country, in my opinion. There are other NATO countries there that can assist and support, but in this counter-insurgency type operation, followed up with good R & D and the type of R & D that needs to happen in the country, the Canadians and the UK are the best at it. That’s why I’m very happy to see that they are in those toughest areas in those provinces.

I also would like to let you know that while the situation for women remains more challenging in Kandahar, on a great number of these CDC’s across the country, and there are over 16,000 such councils across Afghanistan, women play a full and active role in the CDC.

So Canada is playing an integral role in helping these CDC’s complete the projects they have chosen.

In terms of numbers?
By February 28, 2007, over 16,300 CDCs had been elected and almost $280 million in block grants had been disbursed to CDCs in 276 districts in all 34 provinces in the country. Over 24,000 projects had been approved and over 10,300 had been completed.

And in Kandahar itself? As of February 28, 2007, 491 CDCs had been elected, over 850 projects had been approved and 483 projects had been completed.

Canada is achieving results in Afghanistan.

We are supporting Afghan government national programs; respecting our international agreement – the Afghanistan Compact - a five-year plan through 2011.

We have made a long-term commitment to development and reconstruction and will invest close to $1.2 billion over 10 years through 2011.

We have disbursed $139 million in total disbursed last year, $39 million directly into Kandahar

We have invested in programs in areas like education and governance.

Investing wisely in programs that work, for example:
• Mine Action through the UN
• Microfinance Investment Support Facility for Afghanistan (MISFA)
• National Solidarity Program (NSP)
• Polio eradication campaign
• Micronutrient Initiative
• Food aid

We have achieved results including

• Demining: 55% drop in the number of victims per month since 2001
• MISFA: more than 325,000 clients (up 100% from 2005-06); 75% of clients are women; 98% of loans are repaid with interest
• NSP: 16,000+ CDCs elected; 10,000+ projects completed; all 17 districts of Kandahar to benefit
• Polio: all children under the age of 5 vaccinated in the province of Kandahar
• Micronutrients: iodized salt to 10M Afghans; 10,000 children spared from mental defects at birth
• Food aid: over 3.4M Afghans being fed


This new chart is a complete picture of development resources and results for 2006-07 and is available to the public on the Canadian International Development Agency website.

When I began, I said that I would touch upon our perception of the Canadian military as Peacekeepers.

I would like to remind you that Canadian soldiers have been involved in some of the most important conflicts our this century as the recent anniversary of Vimy Ridge demonstrated.

Canada has always believed that the people outside our borders have worth and that truth and democracy are values worth fighting for.

What is different in Canada’s military presence in Afghanistan is that we are not fighting against a traditional army. We are not at war with Afghanistan, but rather in Afghanistan to free the people of years of oppression as we have been asked to do by the democratically elected Afghan government.

Yes we have sacrificed our own.

CBC News recently reported that the family of Cpl. Christopher Paul Stannix, 24, of Dartmouth NS, who was among six Canadians killed when their LAV III struck a roadside bomb on Sunday April 8th, 2007, released a written statement saying he volunteered for the mission because he loved Canada and the Canadian Forces, but he also believed in risking his life to improve living conditions for ordinary Afghans.

Before leaving, Stannix said, "I would like to think if I was in the same position there … somebody would be willing to step in and help me in the exact same way."

He had joined the Canadian Forces shortly after 9/11, and accepted a demotion from Master Cpl. in order to be able to serve in Afghanistan.

Across Afghanistan, including in Kandahar, there are thousands of personal stories of how Canadian funded aid and development projects are changing and improving lives of the men, women and children in the country.

Imagine if you will, 9,000 schoolteachers newly trained (4,000 of whom are women) and the impact each one is having on the dozens of children they are educating. Picture 4,000 community-based schools filled with happy and bright children.

For just a moment, think about the faces of 2,000 vulnerable women who are being given a new lease on life by receiving vocational training that will teach them employable skills. Imagine 3.4 million Afghans without the food aid program Canada has supported.

Canada's commitment to these programs is just a sample of the ways we are helping the people, especially for the women, of Afghanistan.

It is easy to forget in our 24-hour/7-day a week news world, that just a few short years ago women had no rights under the Taliban. No right to work or go to school. No right to access public baths, which were the only means of personal hygiene in Afghanistan.

It is easy to forget the horrors of public stonings in soccer stadiums of the women bold enough to wear nail polish, to walk to the market unaccompanied by a male member of the family. Bold enough to laugh in public.

The development and aid projects Canada is supporting are touching real people. Like the woman we met who is now a tailor after losing everything to the Taliban. Like the young children we met in the fields that flashed the carefree, toothless grins of typical six or seven year-olds anywhere in the world.

Like the village elder in the community development council who was so very proud of his tiny village and the work the citizens had done to rebuild it.

Canadians need to know that our aid is touching millions of souls in Afghanistan. We are able to deliver this aid because our troops - NATO troops, are fighting to keep the Taliban from ever gaining power in Afghanistan again.

Because if they do, all of the progress that the Minister of International Cooperation and I witnessed on our trip, will be gone. For good.

Thank you.