Canadian Voices in Afghanistan
Q&A with Fouz Abdel Hadi, Canadian Technical Advisor to the Ministry of Justice
fFouz Abdel Hadi, Canadian Technical
Advisor to the Ministry of Justice
What is the main focus of your organization and what is your role?
I work for the Canadian non-governmental organization CANADEM (Canada's Civilian Reserve) through its Canadian Governance Support Office (CGSO) in Kabul as a technical advisor on legislative drafting to the Government of Afghanistan’s Ministry of Justice. CANADEM provides advisors to a range of Afghan and international private and public sector organizations to support efforts to rebuild the country.
The overall objective of the two-year legislative drafting project that I am implementing is to strengthen the rule of law in Afghanistan by increasing the ministry’s capacity to draft laws that reflect the values of the country, that are legally sustainable, clear, accurate in both of Afghanistan’s official languages (Dari and Pashto), and consistent with a democratic system of government.
Why did you decide to come to Afghanistan?
I believe that it is the duty of every citizen of the world to contribute to the development of less fortunate countries to the best of their ability. I decided that I wanted to contribute in Afghanistan. I want to help the Afghan people to progress while remaining true to their culture. After more than thirty years of war, both the government and people of Afghanistan want peace and security. They want to catch up with the developed world. They want to have the means to achieve these goals including rule of law.
My education and work experience in legislative drafting has focused on legal systems similar to that of Afghanistan. With my knowledge and experience in this area, as well as women’s rights under shari’a, I thought that would allow me to contribute to the enhancement of the rule of law in Afghanistan.
What do you enjoy most about your job?
The most enjoyable aspect of my work is when I show drafters and other stakeholders how legislation can change people’s behaviour from extreme discrimination against women to full protection of the principle of equality. Legislative drafting, in my view, is not only about technicalities that show how to write clearly by ordering words and sentences in a logical structure, but also how to deal with the constitutionality of the content. Particularly, I enjoy training drafters to resolve conflicts between two equally valid constraints such as commitment to international human rights and the fidelity to shari’a. In this sense, and in social contexts like Afghanistan, building capacity of drafters in legislative drafting becomes very interesting because the transformation of legislation, although maybe slow, is tangible and influential.
What changes have you seen since you started working in Afghanistan?
The most two tangible changes that I have seen in Afghanistan since February 2009 are increased use of Islamic arguments to promote human rights, and an eagerness to learn computer and internet search skills to increase efficiency at work. I have spoken at a number of conferences, during which I provided examples “from within” shari’a sources to show that shari’a is an evolving law and that it protects human rights in the same manner as international human rights law. Over time I have seen in the audiences an expanding interest in how Islamic methodology can be used to protect human rights without creating cultural insensitivity.
I have also been working to increase the ministry’s efficiency by improving their access to computers (20 computers were donated to drafters and a lab with 10 computers was established for group training and research), providing training on how to use the new equipment and supporting efforts to design a database containing legislation, court decisions and international laws. The staff has shown a keen interest in learning these new skills, and the traditional paper is now being replaced by electronic documents.
What do you think Canadians should know about Afghanistan that they aren’t learning from the mainstream media?
The Afghan people do not want to continue living in a war situation; they want peace and security. They want to have access to clean food and water, adequate housing with proper facilities, community schools for boys and girls, a non-polluted environment, playgrounds for children, work opportunities, and strong government institutions. So far, most international assistance to Afghanistan has focused on the military aspect to combat terrorism, but security remains a serious issue because people want to solve their own political problems by themselves. All they need is capacity building in these sectors.
