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| December 10, 2007 |
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| Montreal |
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| Canada should make peace-building and sustainable development its top priorities in Afghanistan. That’s the message of three joint submissions from the Afghanistan Reference Group (ARG) to the Independent Panel on Canada’s Future Role in Afghanistan, chaired by John Manley. ARG is a network of Canadian NGOs with involvement in Afghanistan to which Development and Peace is a member.
The submissions call for the Panel to go beyond the military options set out for it by the government, to embrace a non-military perspective on Canada’s role in Afghanistan. They emphasize the importance of better development, more diplomacy and the separation of the military from the humanitarian and development efforts. They also present concrete suggestions about what Canada can do to help bring about a negotiated and lasting peace in Afghanistan.
The three joint submissions include recommendations on:
1) Human Rights, Gender Equality;
2) Security and Peace;
3) Humanitarian Assistance, Development and Governance.
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Development and Peace is the official international development organization of the Catholic Church in Canada and the Canadian representative of Caritas Internationalis. For more than 40 years, Development and Peace has worked directly with organizations made up of or representing the poor and marginalized in the Global South, and provided in excess of $500 million to 15,000 projects in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East. We are presently active with over 200 partners in 33 countries. In Canada, we are a democratic movement for international solidarity - educating the public about the root causes of poverty and mobilizing social action for change - with 13,000 members from coast to coast.
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| Stefan Lehmeier |
| Afghanistan Reference Group |
| 207-145 Spruce Street, Ottawa ON K1R 6P1 |
| Tel: (613) 232-0647 |
| Cell: (613) 314-1979 |
| Fax: (613) 563-0017 |
| slehmeier@gmail.com |
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| Wanda Potrykus |
| 514 257-8710, ext. 365 |
| wanda.potrykus@devp.org |
