WASHINGTON - Canada will highlight successes in Afghanistan in a United Nations speech on Tuesday while pushing the world body to appoint a high-level envoy to raise awareness of NATO's operation.
Foreign Affairs Minister Maxime Bernier will make the pitch in his first speech to the UN General Assembly, arguing the position should be modelled on Tony Blair's work on the Middle East peace process.
Bernier has discussed the idea with representatives from several countries, as well as Afghan President Hamid Karzai and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. There is already support for the initiative from the United States and countries like Norway, France and Spain.
Blair, as a special envoy for the Quartet group comprising the United Nations, United States, European Union and Russia, has been working on the Middle East issue since stepping down as Britain's prime minister.
Canada believes a similar high-profile effort regarding Afghanistan will provide more support for Karzai and serve to better co-ordinate development and security efforts.
In his speech, Bernier will concentrate on progress in rebuilding efforts and governance while applauding countries that have contributed soldiers and aid.
A UN-commissioned report last week said there's been progress in some areas but the country has a long way to go.
The Afghanistan National Human Development Report said the justice system needs to be completely rebuilt. It notes that one-third of Afghans don't have enough food to eat and less than one in three households have access to safe drinking water. The mortality rate for children under five is among the highest in the world.
Bernier, who was appointed to the foreign affairs post in a cabinet shuffle in August, is expected to raise several other issues, including Haiti which is still struggling to recover from a 2004 revolt that toppled former president Jean-Bertrand Aristide.
He'll also talk about Canada's support for a UN resolution criticizing human rights abuses in Iran.
But Afghanistan remains the biggest issue for Canada.
Some 2,500 Canadian troops are involved in NATO's International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan. Most of the Canadians are in the violent southern province of Kandahar. Seventy-one Canadian soldiers and one diplomat have been killed in the conflict.
Defence Minister Peter MacKay has called it a "no-fail mission'' that requires more military help to prevent the export of terror.
Canada wants countries like Germany, France, Spain and Italy to allow their soldiers into combat zones to fight Taliban militants. That dangerous burden is currently shouldered mostly by Canada, the United States, Britain, the Netherlands and Australia.
There will be an opportunity for more lobbying at a NATO meeting in the Netherlands later this month.
Canada's mission to Afghanistan is due to end in February 2009. The Conservatives want to extend it but face enormous public pressure to get out.
Two-thirds of Canadians have said the soldiers shouldn't stay longer than the deadline. More than half tell pollsters they should get out even sooner.
Karzai has personally appealed to Canadians to continue the fight, saying his country will fall back into anarchy if they don't.
On the weekend, Karzai stepped up his recent calls for negotiations with the Taliban, offering to meet with the Taliban leader and give militants a government role.
