Talking points for Grant Brown, Government of Canada Technical Briefing on Afghanistan
Talking points for Grant Brown
Government of Canada Technical Briefing on Afghanistan
Thursday, August 21 2008
Thank you very much Ron;
It’s also a real pleasure for me to be able to join you today to talk to you about some of the headway we’ve made since I arrived in Afghanistan on July 30th.
One of the first things I did when I got here was to sit down with each member of Canada’s SAT team to get a better grasp of the roles they have played within the Government of Afghanistan as well as the successes and challenges they’ve encountered.
They have been instrumental in helping to develop the GSO as well as to help manage the transition from a military- to a civilian-led team.
The SAT really has played a crucial role here and it’s important, as we move forward, that we build on their successes and lessons learned.
In parallel, over the last four weeks, I’ve also been working very closely with the Embassy in Kabul (particularly the CIDA team) and the Government of Afghanistan to identify the expertise required for the implementation of Canada’s priority development initiatives, including Canada’s signature projects.
This entails CIDA, the GSO and the Afghan Ministries jointly developing Terms of Reference for Technical Advisors, and identifying candidates from the CANADEM data base, to work in support of key Afghan institutions including in the first instance: the Ministry of Rural Rehabilitation and Development, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Justice, the Independent Electoral Commission, and the Afghan Independent Directorate of Local Governance.
We have already identified and fielded one GSO advisor that started working with the Ministry of Energy and Water on August 12th and short lists have been proposed for two additional assignments. Our water advisor is Mohammed Yusuf Rahmanzia; he is an Afghan-Canadian who has more than 20 years experience working for the civil service in Afghanistan and 20 years in the international development world.
His main responsibility is to support the Dahla Dam project in the Project Implementation Unit (Water) of the Afghan Ministry of Energy and Water. As you know, Canada’s Dahla Dam renovation project is at the core of this initiative and one of Canada’s three signature projects in Afghanistan.
In addition, he will support the project’s steering and other technical committees as well as liaise with other Afghan stakeholders that are important to the overall success of the project such as the Ministry of Rural Rehabilitation and Development, the Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Interior and the Afghan National Police etc.
I expect that most experts will assume their duties at the GSO throughout the rest of the summer and into the fall as assignments are confirmed.
Over the next three years, our technical advisors will focus on building sustainable capacity within key Afghan institutions to support current and future development initiatives and deliver services to the people of Afghanistan – in line Canada’s new priorities for moving forward in Afghanistan.
Our experts will help develop policies, strategies, organizational structures, business systems and processes as well as train and mentor staff.
Over the next few months, we will also investigate how we can support the Afghan central ministries to extend their reach into the provinces, with a focus on Kandahar.
This will most likely mean fielding additional GSO experts in Kandahar.
As you can see, we’ve been pretty busy over the last month and we are well on our way to building a solid team of advisors. While lots of work still lies ahead, I’m extremely pleased with the progress we’ve made so far, and am looking forward to continue in this direction.
