To Ms. Niazi, executive director of the Toronto-based Afghan Women's Counselling and Integration Community Support Organization, it seemed to be a perfect fit: A young Afghan-born, Canadian-educated engineer wanted to help with the reconstruction process, making a positive contribution that would benefit both Canada and Afghanistan.

"All he needed was support for a plane ticket," she says.

Ms. Niazi's organization canvassed various organizations, as well as the Canadian and Afghan governments, trying to secure a ticket for the student, but after months of fruitless searching, the idea eventually had to be dropped.

Ms. Niazi says the failure to find a ticket for the student highlights an opportunity the Canadian and Afghan governments are missing by ignoring the contributions Canada's Afghan diaspora can, and in many cases are willing, to make to rebuild the country.

"We couldn't get even this small support," she says. "We have had lots of people who have come to us asking to go to Afghanistan to help. But there should be a willingness [by Canada and Afghanistan] to engage the diaspora."

Five years after coalition and Afghan forces drove the Taliban from power, the country has emerged as the Canada's most important international commitment. Billions of dollars have been spent on military and reconstruction efforts, 42 Canadian soldiers and one diplomat have been killed and the government has promised to maintain a presence in the country, at least aid-wise, until 2011.

At the same time, an estimated 100,000 to 150,000 Afghans have settled in Canada. Ms. Niazi says the community is small and still fairly new, but there are elements that left Afghanistan decades ago, have established themselves here and are ready to make some kind of contribution.

The UN-mandated, Costa Rica-based University for Peace held a conference in Toronto last week examining the roles of diasporas and ways in which they can contribute to peace in the native and host countries.

As part of the conference, Ms. Niazi's organization did an informal survey of 261 Afghans who had emigrated to Canada. Ms. Niazi says the study demonstrates a trend she has seen herself in that the majority of Afghan-Canadians would like to help the country in the future, but many had no idea how to get involved and feel the Canadian and Afghan governments should establish ways for them to do so.

"Many of those who filled out the reports felt some frustration that the Canadian government did not involve the Afghan diaspora," Ms. Niazi says.

While experts say the government, through CIDA, has worked to engage the Haitian diaspora, the development agency is working through the World Bank when it comes to the Afghanistan.

According to CIDA spokeswoman Michele Monette, Canada is spending about $10 million on the bank's Afghan Expatriates Program, which "will increase the contribution of professional Afghans living abroad in the reconstruction of Afghanistan" through policy development and training.

"This component also aims to close the skills gap in information technology, engineering, and teaching with well-trained overseas Afghans, by providing local Afghans with opportunities for on-the-job training to enhance their technical skills," Ms. Monette said in an email.

Since September 2004, around 92 foreign-trained Afghans, including about 10 Afghan-Canadians have been placed in government ministries and agencies, she added.

But Ms. Niazi says while such a program helps those Afghans who are living abroad and want to move back to Afghanistan permanently, others, like the engineer, simply want to volunteer for a few months but are unable to.

Afghanistan's Ambassador to Canada, Omar Samad, says while the Afghan government has managed to repatriate 4 million former refugees, there needs to be more effort on all sides, including Canada, to mobilize trained and knowledgeable Afghan's living abroad who can make a difference.

"One of the answers to our problems is to bring back the diasporas," says Mr. Samad. "But we have not been very successful."

Himself a refugee for 22 years, Mr. Samad escaped in July 1979 as the Soviet Union invaded the country. He fled first to Europe then settled in Virginia where he founded an Afghan students' association and a radio station.

At the same time, other Afghan groups were forming in the U.S., often with different agendas, and Mr. Samad says the different groups were often divided and driven by self-interests and agendas.

The groups carved niches for themselves and, in some cases, managed to influence American policy towards Afghanistan, Mr. Samad says, something that hasn't yet happened in Canada.

But while the presence of different diaspora groups operating in the U.S. during the 1980s and 90s had mixed results, Mr. Samad says there is a need to engage those who have not yet returned but can help the country.

"Not enough has been done to create mechanisms to help qualified people return and contribute," he says. "We need to find fast solutions...otherwise the gains will not be consolidated. We can all do more."