Recommendation 1
Taking into account the decisions of the House of Commons and the
first quarterly report presented to the House on June 10, the Government of
Canada should continue its efforts to communicate to Parliament and Canadians a
comprehensive strategic policy framework for Canada’s multi-year engagement in Afghanistan in support of the international benchmarks already agreed to in the 2006-2011
Afghanistan Compact. Adjustments made as necessary to this Canadian framework
should be promptly explained to Parliament and the Canadian public. Future
quarterly reports on the implementation of Canadian policy objectives in Afghanistan should include, to the fullest extent, possible frank and detailed
results-based assessments of Canadian support to the realization of
internationally agreed benchmarks and timelines. These reports should also
include an update of the financial costs of Canada’s engagement in Afghanistan.
Recommendation 2
Taking into account local sensibilities and culture, the Canadian
military should carry out its mission as outlined in the motion passed by the
House of Commons on March 13, 2008. Moreover, the Government of Canada should do its utmost to ensure that in conducting military operations the NATO-led International
Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan (ISAF) continues to focus on avoiding
Afghan civilian casualties and minimizing property damage.
Recommendation 3
The Government of Canada should reinforce efforts on the
diplomatic, military and development levels, to promote the creation of
conditions favourable to a peace process in Afghanistan.
The Government of Canada should make a concrete commitment to
promote the organization of broad-based negotiations both with the central
government, by bolstering its ability to initiate talks, and with local
communities.
In its CIDA and other programming, the Government of Canada should take advantage of every opportunity to encourage dialogue among all sectors
of Afghan society and all communities of interest, and thereby help to
establish conditions conducive to peace negotiations.
The Government of Canada should also promote a peace and national
reconciliation mandate for the United Nations Special Envoy for Afghanistan.
Recommendation 4
Given the essential role that the United Nations must play in
Afghanistan, the Government of Canada should work with the relevant regional
players, the concerned members of the international community and the United
Nations to enable the UN to have the means required to ensure better
coordination of what is being done and thereby increase the effectiveness of
the UN mission in Afghanistan. The Government of Canada should also use all
bilateral and UN channels to convince member states and the UN itself of the
Afghan conflict’s importance to the international community and thereby
convince them of the necessity to make the conflict a priority.
Recommendation 5
The Government of Canada should significantly increase its focus on
regional diplomacy within the context of its mission in Afghanistan. In the particular case of Pakistan, the Government of Canada should take advantage of
the recent election of a new government in February 2008 to advance cooperation
on key issues of common interest, such as the development of the border regions,
notably the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, and increased technical and
other cooperation between Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Recommendation 6
The Government of Canada should ensure that its development and
reconstruction projects continue to include aspects that focus on Afghanistan’s women and improvements in their social, economic and political capacities.
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Recommendation 7
Recognising the importance of security if reconstruction and
sustainable development are to occur, and given the security conditions that
currently prevail in Kandahar, the Canadian Forces should continue to be
involved through Canada’s Provincial Reconstruction Team in providing
protection for the delivery of vital humanitarian, reconstruction and
development assistance to the population of Kandahar province. In addition, the
Canadian government should monitor the security conditions in Kandahar for
improvements and make changes accordingly to the roles of the military and PRTs
in Afghanistan’s reconstruction and development.
Recommendation 8
The Government of Canada should rebalance its priorities in Afghanistan in order to give emphasis to reconstruction, development and peace-building efforts in Afghanistan, while maintaining Canada’s military commitment.
Recommendation 9
Emphasising what is most likely to deliver benefits to Afghans in
need while also raising local Afghan awareness of Canada’s efforts, the
Government of Canada should consider projects in Afghanistan in a manner that
respects the Afghan government’s authority and that is coherent with other
international assistance activities.
Recommendation 10
The Government of Canada should meet its commitments and provide
the assistance it has promised to Afghanistan, and should strongly encourage
other donors in both bilateral and multilateral settings to do likewise.
Recommendation 11
The Government of Canada should ensure insofar as possible that
Canadian personnel working on international reconstruction and development
projects are suitably qualified and experienced in order that Afghanistan’s
development be carried out efficiently and effectively.
Recommendation 12
Given the impact of the international presence on Afghanistan’s economy and capacity-building, the Government of Canada should increase efforts to ensure
that Afghan personnel and services receive all necessary consideration in Canada’s reconstruction and development efforts.
Recommendation 13
The Government of Canada must continue to improve its accountability
and evaluation methods concerning its reconstruction and development
commitments, and must ensure that its evaluation process is transparent. In
this regard, the Government of Canada should also work with the international
community to structure an effective framework for measuring progress and
conducting performance evaluation on the basis of the benchmarks established by
the international community in the Afghanistan Compact.
Recommendation 14
The Government of Canada should take the necessary steps to improve
awareness among the Canadian population of the achievements and shortcomings of
Canada’s reconstruction and development efforts in Afghanistan. The Government
of Canada should strengthen transparency in the process for evaluating its
assistance to Afghanistan’s development.
Recommendation 15
In order to contribute more effectively to poverty reduction in
Afghanistan, the Government of Canada should ensure that commitments regarding
Afghanistan’s rural development, particularly in remote areas and areas that
are more stable than Kandahar, are integrated into the reconstruction and
development effort. The Government of Canada should also continue to support
projects and activities with impact at the national level.
Recommendation 16
The Government of Canada should continue to ensure that its
reconstruction and development projects respect the importance of Afghan ownership
in their own development.
Recommendation 17
The Government of Canada in concert with its international partners
should increase support for projects that will have an immediate impact on the
lives and living conditions of the Afghan people.
Recommendation 18
The Government of Canada should take the necessary steps to remind
Canadians and the international community of the value of long-term projects for
Afghanistan’s long-term and sustainable development. The Government of Canada should also encourage the international community to place the necessary importance
on long-term projects, while demonstrating both realism and resolve about their
outcomes.
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Recommendation 19
The Government of Canada should ensure that its contribution to Afghanistan’s reconstruction and development includes a balance of both short- and
long-term projects.
Recommendation 20
Working with the United Nations special envoy, the Government of Canada should pursue the necessary steps to strengthen the coordination of aid priorities
among all key actors, including the Afghan government.
Recommendation 21
In order to deepen the foundations of Afghanistan’s future governance,
stability and economic productivity, the Government of Canada should ensure
that its aid efforts emphasise human capital development, particularly programs
and projects that focus on Afghanistan’s youth in the rural areas in particular.
Such programs would include not only job creation projects, but also the
development of employable skills and training across different sectors that are
part of the reality of Afghan life.
Recommendation 22
The Government of Canada should continue to contribute to the
development of Afghanistan’s education system at the primary, secondary and
post-secondary levels.
Recommendation 23
In consultation with the Afghan government and people, Canada’s aid efforts should target poverty reduction in Afghanistan more tangibly, in part by
attending to the development of the private sector and the local economy in the
urban centres and especially in the rural areas. This can be achieved by encouraging
the international community to make better use of Afghan services, skills and
procurement rather than relying on non-Afghan contractors and consultants.
Recommendation 24
In line with support for poverty reduction and investment in Afghanistan’s rural areas, Canadian aid efforts should reflect awareness of and attention
to agricultural development, particularly in the context of infrastructure
rehabilitation involving water and irrigation systems and transportation.
Recommendation 25
In noting that the talent and knowledge of the Afghan diaspora in
Canada have not been as systematically and effectively accessed to the benefit
of Canada’s reconstruction and development activities in Afghanistan, the
Government of Canada should actively pursue mechanisms by which the Afghan community
in Canada could be consulted and engaged in the reconstruction and development
of Afghanistan.
Recommendation 26
As part of helping to ensuring that the governance benchmarks in
the Afghanistan Compact can be met, the Government of Canada should consider all means necessary to raise the legitimacy and effective capacity of public
administration institutions in Afghanistan from the national to the local
level. This should include, where feasible, exploring support for Afghan-led
structures and processes. Particular attention should be paid to fostering
improved governance mechanisms in Kandahar province aimed at providing better
security and basic services to the population there. The Government of Canada should seek responsible local partners in this endeavour.
Recommendation 27
As part of its quarterly progress reports to the Parliament of
Canada on the Canadian mission in Afghanistan, the Government of Canada should
include detailed information on what steps are being taken, and with what
success, to implement the commitments on governance, rule of law and human
rights — including benchmarks and timelines — undertaken by
the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and the international community under the
terms of the Afghanistan Compact.
Recommendation 28
Given the progress that has been achieved to date working with the
Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission, the Government of Canada
should increase its support to that vital body so as to ensure that it has
sufficient capacity and resources to effectively carry out its mandate.
Recommendation 29
In addition, with respect to the issue of transfer of Afghan detainees
to Afghan authorities, the Government of Canada should indicate in its future
reports the details of what it is doing to implement the terms of the Afghanistan motion passed by the House of Commons on March 13, 2008.
Recommendation 30
The Government of Canada should use prudent and measured diplomacy
to hold the Afghanistan government to its
anti-corruption commitments under the Afghanistan Compact. The Government of Canada should support a coordinated approach to anti-corruption measures and in particular should
work with the Government of Afghanistan and its international partners to
ensure that the senior appointments panel is functioning effectively as a key
part of preventing corruption within the institutions of governance.
Recommendation 31
The Government of Canada should work with the Government of Afghanistan and international partners to reform
counter-narcotics policies so that effective and coherent counter-narcotics
strategies can be adopted. All feasible measures should be examined in that
regard.
Recommendation 32
The Government of Canada should examine ways to increase its
support for the development of both the national legislature of Afghanistan and elected subnational governance institutions, building on lessons learned
from work that has already taken place in this regard. This should include
additional support tailored to the needs of women parliamentarians. Furthermore,
Canadian assistance to legislative and other aspects of democratic development
must ensure that this is a sustainable Afghan-led process that respects Afghan
priorities and strengthens Afghan capacities for democratic representation and
oversight. At the same time, Canada should help Afghanistan to build its
democracy in a way that fulfills Afghanistan’s international human rights
obligations.
Recommendation 33
The Government of Canada should immediately examine how best to
provide support for Afghanistan’s next democratic elections in 2009-2010 in
coordination with the relevant Afghan authorities and international partners.
The Government of Canada should also foster professional working relationships
between Canadian parliamentarians and Afghan legislators at the national,
provincial and local levels.
Recommendation 34
The strengthening and extension of the mission of the Strategic
Advisory Team-Afghanistan in Kabul should be reviewed by the Special Committee
on the Canadian Mission in Afghanistan. On the basis of this Committee’s
recommendations, the Government of Canada should consider whether or not to
enhance the Advisory Team’s mission and strengthen the Team through the
addition of more civilian members. Subsequently, and in consultation with the Government
of Afghanistan, appropriate reporting relationships should be reviewed as part
of developing and finalizing the comprehensive Canadian public strategy for Afghanistan called for in Recommendation 1.
Recommendation 35
The Government of Canada should increase its efforts towards
achieving the improved coordination of Canadian government efforts in Afghanistan linked to the implementation of a comprehensive public strategy. In that
context, the Government of Canada could consider appointing an experienced
Canadian coordinator for Afghanistan. Furthermore, the Government’s approach
must be field tested and coordinated with those of Afghan authorities. At the
broadest strategic level, the Government should use all diplomatic means to
push for the improved international-Afghan coordination that will be required
to meet the commitments which all parties have made under the terms of the Afghanistan Compact.