Talking points for Ron Hoffmann, Government of Canada Technical Briefing on Afghanistan
Talking points for Ron Hoffmann
Government of Canada Technical Briefing on Afghanistan
Thursday, August 21 2008
Hello everyone, it’s a pleasure for me to join you today from Kabul.
On August first, Canada announced that the Governance Support Office, a civilian-led team, would replace Canada’s military-led Strategic Advisory Team – whose mission has now come to an end. At that time, a commitment was made to come back to you with more information on the GSO.
So it’s a real pleasure for me to talk to you today about Canada’s new Governance Support Office program as well as to introduce you to Mr. Grant Brown, the Director of the GSO who’s now been in Afghanistan since July 30th.
We’re really excited here about this new initiative.
Over the last three years, the SAT has played a pioneering role in providing strategic advice and support to the Government of Afghanistan.
Now, the GSO will build on this success providing more focused strategic and technical support to the Afghan Government using civilian subject matter experts.
Our aim over the next three years is to further strengthen the capacity of key national institutions to plan, resource and manage programs and services that enable the Afghan government to assume greater responsibility for security, reconstruction and governance.
The GSO will perform five important functions to help build the capacity of the Government of Afghanistan:
- First, the GSO will provide technical assistance and strategic advice to key institutions of the Government of Afghanistan, helping these institutions achieve a greater impact on the lives of Afghans.
- Second, the GSO will build sustainable capacity within these institutions so that they can effectively plan, resource and manage programs at the national and sub-national level – including in Kandahar.
- Third, the GSO will enhance the Government of Afghanistan’s ability to deliver on sector strategies and associated policies that Canada has committed to support. For example, the advisor to the Ministry of Energy and Water will play a key role in the development of Afghanistan’s strategy to implement Canada’s Dhala Dam project;
- Fourth, the GSO will enhance the ability of select Government of Afghanistan Ministries to evaluate and monitor progress in key areas of the Afghan National Development Strategy to which the Government of Canada has committed to support; and
- Fifth, the GSO advisors will facilitate communications between the Government of Canada, the Government of Afghanistan and other key stakeholders contributing towards greater inter-departmental coordination and ongoing policy dialogue.
Our aid program in Afghanistan is Canada’s largest ever aid program to a single country. The GSO technical assistance program is, aligned to Canada’s six priorities for moving forward in Afghanistan as well as to Afghanistan’s National Development Strategy.
Our implementing partner, CANADEM, has far-reaching access to technical expertise. Their roster counts more than 10,000 experts and specialists in areas such as humanitarian aid, water and sanitation, security, engineering, governance and much more.
This means our partner is able to quickly move civilian experts – who have considerable experience working in development and in fragile states – into the field.
By providing highly qualified technical and policy advice, the GSO will make an important contribution to the success of both the Government of Afghanistan and Canada’s priorities from now until 2011.
Capacity development delivered through the GSO will complement and reinforce other Canadian funded initiatives that are already contributing to the effectiveness of Afghan service delivery units. For instance, through our education and Dahla Dam signature projects we will be building the capacity of the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Energy and Water.
At full capacity, we expect to have at least eight long-term advisors working in key Afghan institutions, including the Ministry of Rural Rehabilitation and Development, the Ministry of Energy and Water, the Ministry of Education, the Independent Electoral Commission, and the Afghan Independent Directorate for Local Governance (IDLG), and the Ministry of Justice.
These advisors will fall under the leadership of Mr. Grant Brown, an international expert with decades of experience in governance capacity building, organizational development, and major project management.
Mr. Brown recently spent three years working in Baghdad, Iraq as a senior consultant for capacity development. There, he oversaw the development of reconstruction and capacity building programs with the U.S. Embassy and the Pentagon.
Working in the U.S. Embassy’s Iraq Reconstruction Management Office, Grant advised both the Ambassador and Senior Consultants assigned to support key Government of Iraq Ministries on ministerial capacity development. Grant created and implemented capacity development models for the country, and oversaw an $18.4 billion reconstruction program.
A former Canadian Forces officer and a graduate of Wilfrid Laurier University, Grant combines a wealth of tactical, operational, and strategic level experience and is well equipped for the key position as CANADEM’s Director of the Canadian Governance Support Office Afghanistan.
Now without further ado, I am pleased to introduce you to Mr. Brown, who will tell you more about the work he’s been doing since he arrived in Kabul on July 30th.
