Archived Document
Quarterly Report
Canadian Priorities: Making and Measuring Progress
Simply put, the strategic objective of the Canadian engagement in Afghanistan is to make measurable progress between now and 2011 toward 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 gains over the longer term.
There is a powerful logic to the 2011 timeline. First, Canada’s military presence in Kandahar province is to end in 2011. And second, the Afghanistan Compact—the five‑year international framework for cooperation between Afghans and the international community—concludes in 2011. By then, the Afghan National Security Forces should be assuming leadership for the country’s security and the Afghan government should be taking a much stronger governance and development role, thus allowing Canada to establish a different kind of relationship with Afghanistan.
To achieve measurable progress by 2011, Canada will focus on specific priorities that are mutually reinforcing and consistent with Canada’s own strengths. We will continue to support the Afghan government at the national level, but we will expand our concentration of resources and efforts in Kandahar where Canadian soldiers, diplomats, police, development specialists and others can work together to best advantage. Just as crucially, activities will be chosen based on a realistic expectation of visibility and practical impact—benefiting Afghans in ways that improve their lives and strengthen their confidence in their own country’s future. Again the logic is plain: as key districts in Kandahar become more secure and better governed, as Afghan institutions deliver more services and administer justice more reliably, then Afghans will trust their government more and advance their own development.
The Canadian government has identified six policy priorities that will define Canada’s engagement in Afghanistan. The first four priorities are aligned with the Afghanistan Compact but focus primarily on Kandahar:
- Enable the Afghan National Security Forces in Kandahar to sustain a more secure environment and promote law and order.
• Afghanistan Compact: promote security and stability in all regions of Afghanistan, including by strengthening Afghan capability. - Strengthen Afghan institutional capacity to deliver core services and promote economic growth, enhancing the confidence of Kandaharis in their government.
• Afghanistan Compact: strengthen and reform government machinery reflecting core functions and responsibilities. - Provide humanitarian assistance for extremely vulnerable people, including refugees, returnees and internally displaced persons.
• Afghanistan Compact: develop an effective system of disaster preparedness and response. - Enhance border security, with facilitation of bilateral dialogue between Afghan and Pakistani authorities.
• Afghanistan Compact: lower transit times through Afghanistan by means of cooperative border management and other multilateral or bilateral trade and transit agreements. - Help advance Afghanistan’s capacity for democratic governance by contributing to effective, accountable public institutions and electoral processes.
• Afghanistan Compact: create a resourced and capable Afghanistan Independent Election Commission and strengthen and reform government machinery reflecting core functions and responsibilities. - Facilitate Afghan-led efforts toward political reconciliation.
• Afghanistan Compact: overcome the legacy of conflict in Afghanistan.
Making substantial progress in these priorities by 2011 calls for hard choices. The transition will be accomplished by reorienting Canadian programming, with some programs scaled back or stopped in order to invest resources in the most needed and promising initiatives. The Canadian Forces will increase their attention to improving the capacity of Afghanistan’s own security forces in Kandahar and supporting government and development work. Our redesigned civilian programs will bring new emphasis to fostering better government and sustainable development in Kandahar.
The Government is assigning more diplomats and development officers to Kandahar, and has appointed a senior-level Representative of Canada in Kandahar to strengthen operational management of the Canadian engagement. The number of Canadian civilians posted in Kandahar will almost triple this year, rising from 27 to 71; and at the Canadian Embassy in Kabul, the number of civilians is increasing from 24 to 32. More decision-making authority has been delegated to Canadian civilians in Kandahar, and it will be exercised with more effective civilian-military coordination.
Progress will have to be measured regularly to gauge results and adjust to changing circumstances. Quarterly reports will reflect the reality that while Canadians can directly influence the effectiveness and efficiency of our actions in Afghanistan, we will have less direct influence over final outcomes in Afghanistan’s security, governance and development. We are playing an important role in Afghanistan, but Canada is one of dozens of countries and international organizations contributing to Afghanistan’s recovery, in concert with the Afghan government. We cannot unilaterally determine the course of events. But by tracking and reporting progress toward meeting Canadian priorities, the Government will make the best use of Canadian resources devoted to the Afghan mission. And we will account to Parliament and Canadians for the results.
The following pages frame the dimensions of each policy priority in turn and provide more details. For each priority, we specify the Canadian objective to be reached in 2011, and we identify some factors to be considered as we develop the benchmarks of progress. Those benchmarks will appear in the next quarterly report.
