Working together for rights in Afghanistan: Canadian and Afghan civil society
MONTREAL – Sept. 22, 2006 – Rights & Democracy welcomes the opportunity to discuss the role of Canadian civil society organizations in Afghanistan’s reconstruction with senior members of Afghanistan’s Cabinet and the Hon. Josée Verner, Canada’s Minister for International Cooperation. It will also be a valuable moment to highlight the vital contribution Afghanistan’s civil society organizations are making to the establishment to human rights and the provision of essential services throughout the country.Securing Afghanistan requires a long-term commitment to efforts within the country to entrench respect for human rights and the rule of law and to provide essential services like health care, legal assistance and education throughout the country. Rights & Democracy is one of the many Canadian civil society organizations committed to supporting the work of independent Afghan organizations, primarily through its CIDA-funded Women’s Rights in Afghanistan Fund (WRAF).
WRAF is an important example of direct Canadian assistance to Afghan civil society. From its office in Kabul, Rights & Democracy works in partnership with Afghan women’s organizations to develop and implement projects concerned with, among other things, the promotion of gender equality in education, peacebuilding and the establishment of information networks about women’s rights, including a new women’s resource centre in Kandahar.
“Canadian assistance to Afghans eager to promote human rights and foster hope within their communities is vital,” said Jean-Louis Roy, President of Rights & Democracy. “These life-giving efforts are crucial to the ongoing struggle against oppression, violence and despair in Afghanistan.”
Providing Afghans with both the security needed to implement reconstruction projects and the resources necessary to see those projects take root and grow are what Afghans need most from Canada. Creating an environment that allows Afghans to meet their own peace-building and reconstruction needs is also vital to the sustainable development of Afghanistan.
Rights & Democracy is a non-partisan, independent Canadian institution created by an Act of Parliament in 1988 to promote, advocate and defend the democratic and human rights set out in the International Bill of Human Rights. In cooperation with civil society and governments in Canada and abroad, Rights & Democracy initiates and supports programmes to strengthen laws and democratic institutions, principally in developing countries.
For More Information
Please contact Steve Smith (ext 255) or Louis Moubarak (ext 261) at Rights & Democracy, 514-283-6073.
