Talking points for David Mulroney, Deputy Minister of Canada’s Afghanistan Task Force
Talking points for David Mulroney, Deputy Minister of Canada’s Afghanistan Task Force
Government of Canada Technical Briefing on Afghanistan
Friday, September 5, 2008
Good morning. I am pleased to be here today to provide details on Canada’s strategy for measuring the progress of our engagement in Afghanistan from now until 2011.
Our ultimate goal for Afghanistan remains as stated in our first quarterly report – to make measurable progress between now and 2011 towards building a more secure Kandahar that is better governed and can deliver basic services to its citizens, supported by a more capable national government that can better manage Afghanistan’s borders and sustain stability and reconstruction going over the longer term.
In June of this year, Ministers of the Cabinet Committee on Afghanistan announced six priority areas and three signature projects to focus Canada’s engagement in Afghanistan in support of that goal. The announcement by Ministers this morning is the next phase of this commitment. The 21 specific benchmarks and 40 clear progress indicators will be used to track and report on progress in each of our priority areas and signature projects.
These benchmarks respond directly to the recommendations of the January 2008 report from the Independent Panel on Canada’s Future Role in Afghanistan. And I quote, “the effectiveness of Canada’s military and civilian contributions in Afghanistan, along with the progress of Afghan security, governance and development must be tracked and assessed more thoroughly and systematically.”
Our benchmarks are consistent with those already established in the Afghanistan Compact. It is important to remember that Canada alone does not control the outcomes of our objectives. They are also dependent on the efforts of the Afghan government and the international community. But using them to guide our initiatives, and reporting quarterly on progress, will help guide and shape our policies and programmes there.
Monitoring our progress in Afghanistan will be difficult. Progress on some indicators may not necessarily be visible or even quantifiable in each quarter. Recent incidents in both Kandahar and Kabul clearly illustrate how difficult and dangerous the work this is. But Canada’s goals in Afghanistan are achievable. Our soldiers and civilians are at work in Kandahar, Kabul and Ottawa. Focussing our efforts on development, governance and ANSF training will contribute to enhanced security.
While I won’t walk through each benchmark and progress indicator – you can find a full list on the website - I would like to give you a few examples of what we are talking about.
For instance, if we look at our first priority, training and mentoring Afghan National Security Forces, our objective for 2011 is for the ANA in Kandahar to demonstrate an increased capacity to conduct operations and sustain a more secure environment in key districts of Kandahar, with support from ISAF allies.
To measure progress, we have outlined a number of benchmarks. One specific example is to increase the number of ANA kandaks (or army battalions of about 650 soldiers) in Kandahar that are capable of conducting near-autonomous security operations. The progress indicator for this benchmark is the number of ANA kandaks with this capability.
Our target for 2011 is to have four of the five kandaks and their brigade headquarters fully capable of planning, executing and sustaining near-autonomous operations. And our baseline, which is the point where we started measuring, is one ANA kandak at this level.
For our priority of helping to strengthen Afghan institutional capacity to deliver core services and promote economic growth, our objective for 2011 is for Kandahar’s provincial administration and core ministries of the Afghan government to be better able to provide basic services in key districts of Kandahar province.
A specific example here is the Dahla Dam signature project. The benchmark is for the Dam and its irrigation and canal system to be rehabilitated, that it generate jobs, and that it foster agriculture. The progress indicators then give us more specific information on how we are doing against the benchmark -- in this case the number of seasonal jobs created and the number of hectares of land benefiting from improved irrigation and water management.
Some of our benchmarks and indicators are still being developed. If we look at the priority of facilitating Afghan-led efforts towards political reconciliation, our objective for 2011 is for national and provincial levels of the Afghan government to undertake initiatives that will encourage political reconciliation.
We have established one benchmark for this priority - for the Government of Afghanistan to be increasingly able to promote reconciliation among Afghans. That means holding discussions, bringing people back under the Afghan constitution and rule of law.
The progress indicators for this benchmark are for the Afghan governmentto identify the institutions and officials responsible for promoting reconciliation, establishing a national reconciliation process, and better communicating with Afghansabout reconciliation.
Reconciliation is and must be an Afghan-led process. Canada and other international partners will play supporting roles but ultimately, only the Afghan government has the authority to pursue political reconciliation.
Each of the six priorities and three signature projects have clear benchmarks and indicators to measure results. That said, I want to be very clear - some benchmarks are still under development. In certain areas our programming is relatively new and we are still maturing the indicators, in others we have yet to set our baselines or targets.
As we continue efforts to improve and refine the benchmarks, the Government is committed to reporting regularly - each quarterly report will provide Canadians with updates on the progress being made.
Thank you.
