Foreign Affairs committee  Thanks very much for the question. I'll share the response with my colleague from the bilateral program, if I may, but I'll begin by saying that I think many of us are aware that in many of the conflict-affected parts of Libya there is a lot of stability right now. On the humani

Foreign Affairs committee  If I may simply complement that, currently in the UN plan they do outline food insecurity as one of the current challenges, so in fact you're bang-on on that question. I think Libya has a history of being a food importer, and the fact that it is rich in resources has enabled it t

Foreign Affairs committee  Thank you for your question. It's difficult to deliver humanitarian assistance when bombs are dropping. That's something we are concerned about—the safety and security of humanitarian workers. They can move in only when the active conflict has stopped. The ICRC made one foray

Foreign Affairs committee  Thanks very much for the question. I want to add, very quickly, on your last question, that the situation for land tenure was very serious before the earthquake, but afterwards, because so many of the government buildings were lost, that added to the situation. The humanitarian

Foreign Affairs committee  The assistance we are providing to UN agencies such as the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees and the World Food Programme is in the form of money. Those organizations are now in a position to address the needs of refugees in Turkish and Jordanian territory.

Foreign Affairs committee  Thank you. I'll be quick then. Canada has been systematically responding to meeting the humanitarian needs of the Syrians who are affected by the conflict. We started back in 2011 when there was a spike in the violence, and since then, as our partners have revised their appeal

Foreign Affairs committee  Yes, that's a good point. But you have to keep in mind that these are appeals about needs that they anticipate. They don't currently have 700,000 refugees to respond to; they're anticipating that by the end of 2012 they will have that many. Right now they have 40% of the required

Foreign Affairs committee  Within Syria itself, we have five key partners at this time. We have the World Food Programme. We have the High Commissioner for Refugees. We have the International Committee of the Red Cross. We have the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. And we ha

Foreign Affairs committee  Are you asking in-country, in Syria itself, or in the refugee camps?

Foreign Affairs committee  Okay. The partners we are working with are actually addressing these needs. UNICEF is working to meet the water and sanitation needs in the countries where the refugee camps are. They're working in close collaboration with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees. In this context, w

Foreign Affairs committee  We know that women and children in camps have seen and experienced extreme hardship. In Lebanon, for example, 75% of the refugees are women and children, with children making up more than 50%. As a result, our partners such as UNICEF and UNHCR work to address the psychological an

Foreign Affairs committee  Give me one minute. I have to double-check something for you. My apologies.

Foreign Affairs committee  I would say at this time we have not funded UNICEF for these activities. I should have clarified that. As the camps are opened, UNHCR provides all of the assistance and protection for the refugees. As the situation settles more, they will bring in partners, like UNICEF, to provid

Foreign Affairs committee  The challenge here, of course, is the actors in-country who can effectively access those in need. You've put your finger right on it. That is why the majority of our partners are using the Syrian Arab Red Crescent as the key actor in-country, because they're essentially local fol

Foreign Affairs committee  That money does come from the CIDA international humanitarian aid program for this year. We're not talking about money earmarked for something else. Our budget for the international humanitarian aid program has not yet been fully allocated. We are waiting for the UN's consolidat