Archived Document
Priority 4. Enhance border security, with facilitation of bilateral dialogue between Afghan and Pakistani authorities.
Building capacity for sustainable Afghan security, governance and development is in large part dependent on actions taken that will strengthen the management of the Afghanistan-Pakistan border. This strengthening will in turn help to inhibit the flow of insurgents and criminal activity while enabling legitimate travel and supporting trade and trade transit between the two countries, all of which have an impact on Afghanistan 's national security and economic development.
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.
In this quarter, progress continued on the implementation of the Dubai Process Action Plan, a March 2009 joint Afghanistan-Pakistan document outlining activities to promote border cooperation in the areas of counter-narcotics, law enforcement, managing the movement of people and customs. Following the first set of Afghanistan-Pakistan Joint Working Group meetings on counter-narcotics and managing the movement of people that took place earlier in 2009, Canada facilitated a second set of meetings on all four areas of work in November. Progress was achieved on the implementation of several projects and a new list of projects was approved, including the development of drug treatment centres and building the capacity of law enforcement agencies to maintain law and order in the border region.
Canadian support has also been instrumental in the development of the new Afghan National Customs Academy , which opened in January 2010 with a Canada Border Services Agency official serving as deputy dean and another as senior trainer. A senior Canadian civilian police officer continues to mentor the head of the Afghan Border Police, facilitate border planning among all players and assist with corruption investigations.
