Kandahar, Afghanistan — Kandahar might seem like an unusual place to run into a diplomat. It’s a conflict area, after all, and whether or not you have diplomatic passport, stepping outside prescribed safe areas can land you in a good bit of hot water.
But that’s exactly where Farrah Musani, an officer with the Department of Foreign Affairs, has been for the last year.
“This is a totally atypical environment for DFAIT to be working. I don’t think there’s anything else like it,” Musani tells me over coffee in the Kandahar Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) cafeteria.
“It’s been a pretty intense experience – but a very good one.”
Born outside Toronto, Musani moved with her family to Calgary in 1987. She graduated from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government before joining the Foreign Affairs team 2 years ago.
After a year with START– the Stabilization and Reconstruction Task Force – in Ottawa, Musani got the call to head south. “I remember I got a phone call in mid-May last year,” she recalls.
Ismailimail 
Wish you all the best Farah.
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The article says:
“Canada’s engagement in rebuilding Afghanistan is the largest in our country’s history. And Musani seems proud to be a part of it. “This is a huge engagement for Canada – and I feel like if we’re going to do it, we should do it right.”
Musani wraps up her stint in Kandahar this summer, but further adventures are not far off: she’s slated to start at Canada’s embassy in Kabul come the fall.”
This is the very essence of Canada’s involvement in the Kandahar province of Afghanistan: reconstruction and the creation of civil society institutions. However, it cannot occur in an unfettered way without involvement of the Canadian military to provide security, stability and hold back those who are ideologically opposed to its success. The Government of Canada, under the current leadership of Prime Minister Stephen Harper, is providing a masterful and delicate balance between military engagement on the one hand and reconstruction and the creation of civil society institutions on the other. It is very special and a source of great pride to see Ismaili diplomats like Farah Musani and Ambassador Arif Lalani be a part of this momentous effort to help Afghanistan back onto its feet after so many years of war and instability. Hats off to you Farah; keep up the great work and stay safe.
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