The Gala held at the Gospel Temple on May 14, included a silent auction, a musical performance by the Sister Shout! choir dedicated to Afghan women and a special address by the Afghan envoy, followed by a question and answer session.

Ottawa – Afghan Ambassador Omar Samad participated at a ceremony Thursday held at the Distribution Center of Health Partners International of Canada (HPIC) in Mississauga, Ontario, where it was announced that more than $1.5 million worth of medicines and medical supplies will soon be shipped to Afghanistan.

Amb. Samad thanked the donors and financial supporters of this shipment and said “your generosity will touch the lives of thousands of Afghans who are, in most cases, deprived of quality medical supplies including medicines.”

Afghan Ambassador Omar Samad addressed the Third annual Fraser Institute's Canada Strong and Free Ottawa Dinner on May 8 at the National Gallery of Canada. After addressing the 400 guests, he then joined Mr. John Watson, President and CEO of Care Canada and senior fellows, Mr. Preston Manning, former politician, and Mr. Mike Harris, former Premier of Ontario in a question and answer period.

This week on The House (CBC Radio One)

Canada's negotiated a new addition to its Afghan detainee agreement. It's new and improved according to the Government. Canadian officials will now have unfettered access to the detainees it turns over to Afghan authorities in Kandahar. Host Kathleen Petty speaks with the Afghan Ambassador to Canada, Omar Samad. He says the Afghan Government is trying to get it right but he admits, there is still a lot of work to do.To listen to audio go to:

http://www.cbc.ca/thehouse/audio.html

"While the Afghan detainee access and treatment issue has kept Canadian politicians and media very busy over the past two weeks, the people of Afghanistan continue to face a series of serious challenges on the security, economic-development and state-building fronts almost 5½ years following the ouster of the Taliban," Afghanistan's Ambassador to Canada, Omar Samad, writes today in an exclusive commentary for globeandmail.com on the current situation in Afghanistan

"As far as the detainee issue is concerned, the Afghans, having previously reached similar bilateral arrangements with some other nations, did not hesitate to update and upgrade the 2005 arrangement [a deal announced last week] to give further assurances to Canada that we are willing to work together to improve detainee conditions under the law, to provide direct access for monitoring and, more importantly, to continue with the important job of helping restore good governance practices and advance the cause of implementing rule of law in the country . . . "

While the Afghan detainee access and treatment issue has kept Canadian politicians and media very busy over the past two weeks, the people of Afghanistan continued to face a series of serious challenges on the security, economic-development and state-building fronts almost 5½ years following the ouster of the Taliban.

As far as the detainee issue is concerned, the Afghans, having previously reached similar bilateral arrangements with some other nations, did not hesitate to update and upgrade the 2005 arrangement to give further assurances to Canada that we are willing to work together to improve detainee conditions under the law, to provide direct access for monitoring and, more importantly, to continue with the important job of helping restore good governance practices and advance the cause of implementing rule of law in the country.

This week on The House (CBC Radio One)

Canada's negotiated a new addition to its Afghan detainee agreement. It's new and improved according to the Government. Canadian officials will now have unfettered access to the detainees it turns over to Afghan authorities in Kandahar. Host Kathleen Petty speaks with the Afghan Ambassador to Canada, Omar Samad. He says the Afghan Government is trying to get it right but he admits, there is still a lot of work to do.To listen to audio go to:

http://www.cbc.ca/thehouse/audio.html

The Embassy of Afghanistan with the assistance of the Yossufzai family provided Afghan food and delicacies to more than 600 guests at the Tulip Ball held at the National Gallery of Canada on May 4.