Archived Document
Priority 4. Enhance border security, with facilitation of bilateral dialogue between Afghan and Pakistani authorities.
The London Conference on Afghanistan held in January endorsed the importance of taking a regional approach to stabilization and development. Nowhere is this more important than along the heavily travelled and largely unsecured border between Afghanistan and Pakistan.
The Canadian objective for border security is that, by 2011, Afghan institutions, in cooperation with Pakistan, will exercise stronger capacity to manage the border and foster economic development in the border area.
A more secure border can inhibit the movement of insurgents while enabling legitimate travel between Afghanistan and Pakistan. In this quarter, Canada completed two target objectives in support of stronger border security. First, as a result of Canadian stewardship, mechanisms at the border are now in place for regular and substantive discussions across a broad array of issues. Second, the construction of a Joint District Coordination Centre in Spin Boldak has now been completed.
Discussion and coordination with U.S. and Afghan partners on the development of a border facility at Weish continued in this quarter. As a shared Canada-U.S. project, construction of the facility is expected to start later in 2010.
Enhancing border security will help contribute
to economic development, regional security
and stability. Canada Border Services
Agency staff, along with U.S. counterparts,
are training Afghan customs officers at
the Afghan National Customs Academy.
Forty-eight officers graduated in March.
The new Afghan National Customs Academy opened in January, with Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) personnel serving as Deputy Dean and Senior Trainer. The first class of 48 customs officers graduated from the academy in mid-March and returned to their jobs in the field. A second class of customs officers has commenced their training. The knowledge and experience of CBSA experts will equip Afghan customs officials with a stronger capacity to manage the border, contribute more effectively to border security and maximize customs revenue collection.
Progress also continued on the Dubai Process Action Plan, a March 2009 joint Afghanistan-Pakistan document outlining activities that will promote better cooperation in the areas of counter-narcotics, law enforcement, managing the movement of people and customs. In this quarter, implementation began on projects to support drug treatment centres, and to inhibit the shipment of chemicals used in the production of heroin. Some 16 tonnes of these chemicals were seized in March. Pakistani authorities involved in this action were trained under a joint United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime/World Customs Organization program funded by Canada.
Finally, under Canada’s G8 presidency, G8 foreign ministers met in Gatineau, Quebec, on March 29 and 30. With the support of the governments of Afghanistan and Pakistan, the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank, the Afghanistan-Pakistan Border Region Prosperity Initiative was launched. The initiative aims to facilitate the delivery of targeted projects essential to fostering trade between Afghanistan and Pakistan, thereby contributing to economic development and strengthening regional cooperation.
