I. Canadian Priorities: Reporting Progress

To help Afghans improve their own security, governance and development, Canada’s engagement is defined by six priorities: enable the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) in Kandahar to sustain a safer environment and promote law and order; strengthen Afghan institutional capacity to deliver basic services; provide humanitarian aid to the most vulnerable people; enhance border security with facilitation of Afghan-Pakistani dialogue; help advance Afghanistan’s democratic governance; and facilitate Afghan-led political reconciliation.

Just as security, governance and development interact and reinforce each other, progress in each of our priorities can speed progress in the others. Better trained and equipped ANSF can improve the security that allows governance to function well. Government that can deliver basic services to Afghans will earn their support—and diminish any appeal the insurgency might claim. While humanitarian aid addresses needs of the most vulnerable people, secure and well-governed development improves lives and strengthens Afghans’ confidence in their country’s future.

Achieving even modest progress in Afghanistan remains difficult. After decades of warfare and misrule, Afghanistan is one of the world’s poorest countries. Its government lacks capacity in nearly every part of its administration. And the insurgency—in which the Taliban is the pre-eminent but not the only force—has shown no signs of abating and in some provinces has expanded its reach.

To ensure that our engagement can be as productive as possible, we have integrated Canada’s military and civilian efforts in Kandahar. At the same time, we have increased our embassy presence in Kabul to reinforce coordination with Afghan authorities and with other countries and organizations active in Afghanistan.

More Canadian civilians are now serving in Afghanistan than ever before. By the end of the quarter, 98 civilians were working in Kandahar and Kabul, and more are expected to be deployed this year. Working closely with the Canadian Forces, these civilians include diplomats, development specialists and corrections officers, as well as police seconded from the RCMP and provincial and municipal forces across the country. Canada’s experience with soldiers and civilians working and planning together has been recognized by other governments as a useful model for their own operations in Afghanistan.

Progress in each of Canada’s priorities is being tracked with detailed benchmarks, so Parliament and Canadians can measure results to 2011. The Appendix of this report sets out the benchmarks and the results for this quarter.