Re: Symposium hears Afghan aid leaving rural areas behind, March 24.

An assessment made at an Ottawa symposium on March 23 by Seth Jones, a U.S. academic employed by the Rand Corporation, regarding development activities in the province of Kandahar has been rapidly overtaken by events.

Since his visit to Kandahar in January, where he observed that reconstruction efforts had only reached the immediate vicinity of Kandahar City, my ministry has initiated about $7 million worth of Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA)-supported projects in 15 of 17 of Kandahar's districts, including some of the most remote and inaccessible areas in the province.

Responding to greatly improved security in the province -- thanks to the brave efforts of Canadian, Afghan and other NATO security forces -- my ministry has embarked upon an ambitious effort to deliver $20 million in Canadian development aid to this impoverished and neglected region over the next few months. There are now more than 200 projects ongoing in Kandahar province, mostly related to drinking water, irrigation, road and school construction -- major priorities for the almost 80 per cent of Afghans who live in rural areas.

However, several initiatives are on a larger scale, including the construction of dams and bridges in Ghorak, Dand, Arghandab, Daman and ShaWali Kot districts. Indeed, the development model we have implemented in Kandahar has proven so successful over the past few months that we are now in the process of exporting it to Uruzgan province.

The Afghan people and government are grateful that Canadians have stepped forward to become leading partners in helping rebuild our shattered nation, particularly Kandahar province. Afghans have learned from bitter experience that development cannot take place without security and security cannot take root without development. By helping provide both, Canada is making a major difference in the lives of hundreds of thousands of impoverished Afghans, and setting the conditions for a lasting peace.

Mohammed Ehsan Zia,

Kabul,

Minister of Rural Rehabilitation and Development, Islamic Republic of Afghanistan

© The Ottawa Citizen 2007