The graduating class of 2014 has always lived in the shadow of 9/11. For those students graduating from high school this June, their entire education has been in a world that was forever changed by the worst terrorist attack in U.S. history.
Following the events of Sept. 11, 2001, the world’s attention turned to Afghanistan. The country had been a longtime base for Al-Qaeda training camps. Its Taliban government protected the camps that educated mostly young men in the ways of bomb making, suicide attacks and devising plans to bring maximum devastation to the maximum number of people.
The terrorist attack that brought down the twin towers in New York City prompted the UN Security Council to support efforts to root out terrorism in Afghanistan. Weeks after the attack the U.S. began operations against Al-Qaeda and the Taliban regime. Canada committed to those efforts, entering the country early in 2002.
Along with provincial and municipal buildings across Alberta, schools lowered their flags this morning to commemorate the final lowering of the Canadian flag in Kabul, Afghanistan. After nearly 12 years and the death of 162 Canadians, the last group of Canadian soldiers will finally return home.
Throughout the years, Canadian Forces maintained security, opened an embassy in Kabul, and supported humanitarian efforts and democratic reform. They worked on building the capacity of the Afghan National Army and police in hopes that it would help bring a sustainable peace to the country. While the world continued to debate the merits of the mission, Canadian Forces stayed where they were, alongside their allies, in the heat and dust and insecurity of a hostile environment.
Between the interchanging roles of combat and providing humanitarian aid and mentorship, the last few years focused more on Kabul, including the support of education and health initiatives for children and youth. One of the crucial elements to that initiative is the ongoing development of education for girls. A little more than 10 per cent of Afghan women can read and millions of girls do not have access to schools.
Uneducated women are far less likely to have access to economic opportunities and are more prone to suffer from violence. Canadian troops have worked diligently to support matters related to women and girls, by supporting increased access to quality education, maternal health, and basic human rights.
Afghanistan is a difficult place to exist as a girl or a woman. In 2001, girls were not allowed to attend school. Thanks to concerted efforts by the country’s new leadership and support from the world, millions of girls are in school today. Women are taking teaching roles at an accelerated rate, and girls are advancing beyond primary school to secondary, where their chances for success and a quality life grow exponentially.
Canada has worked with international partners to develop more than 4,000 community-based schools in the country, providing primary education to thousands of children, 85 per cent of whom are girls. Literacy training to tens of thousands of women has also been undertaken. Yet schools for girls are vulnerable to attacks by insurgents who oppose their education.
As our troops leave Afghanistan they do so with a remarkable legacy of helping women and girls. Thank you for sharing your knowledge, your shoulders and your lives with the people of this challenged country. Now we wait eagerly for you to return to welcome arms and to bring our beloved flag home.
Dee-Ann Schwanke is a masters student in international management.
