Thank you, Mr. Chair, for inviting World Vision Canada to contribute today. I'm joined by my colleague Julie McKinlay, who is our liaison with our colleagues in Afghanistan.
World Vision began emergency relief operations in Afghanistan in 2001. More than a decade later, our programs have expanded to sectors that include health, nutrition and child protection. We work with such donors as UNICEF, the World Food Programme and the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. We've partnered with Global Affairs Canada as well as the EU, U.S., German, Australian and U.K. aid agencies.
In March 2019, just two years ago, I visited our team in Afghanistan. Even then, humanitarian assistance was critical to help vulnerable populations survive in the face of a growing food crisis. I also witnessed development work that was tackling the root causes of poverty. I left the country encouraged by the progress I saw, and by how Canadians had helped us bring about positive changes, and yet was overwhelmed by the scale of the need and worried about the future. Those needs are so much greater today.
We want to convey two key messages. First, the children of Afghanistan are facing a dire humanitarian emergency that is only getting worse. We must ensure that assistance reaches those who are suffering. Second, we urgently need to tackle legal barriers that are preventing Canadian organizations from providing humanitarian assistance.
Children in Afghanistan are in crisis. Over half of all children under five suffer from acute malnutrition. Afghanistan today has the highest number of people facing emergency food insecurity in the world. That's a terrifying 35% increase from the same time just last year. According to the Watchlist on Children and Armed Conflict, Afghanistan is the most dangerous country in the world to be a child. They are subject to grave human rights violations, including attacks on schools and hospitals, physical and sexual violence, and inequality for girls. Millions of children in Afghanistan are growing up knowing little beyond conflict, displacement and multi-dimensional poverty. As the economic crisis deepens, households, as we've already heard, are being forced to adopt extreme coping strategies. Our teams have also told us of families selling their daughters for future marriage in return for payment.
That's why I want to turn to our second point. Canadian laws are preventing Canadian-based organizations like ours from getting the most assistance we can to Afghan families. You have heard from other witnesses about the sanctions carve-out internationally. We can speak from a Canadian organizational perspective on where there is a critical gap.
At World Vision Canada, we have funding and supplies that are needed now but that we cannot send to our teams on the ground. As just one example, we had two containers ready to ship full of packets of ready-to-use therapeutic food, which is used to treat children facing the severest forms of malnutrition. This medicine can literally bring children back from the brink of death by starvation. Our teams on the ground pleaded with us to rush this food to our clinics. Each container could help more than 900 children. It was heartbreaking that we had to say no.
This is because the Taliban is on Canada's Anti-terrorism Act's list of terrorist entities. The view is that payment of direct or indirect taxes or fees to them in any form, even for goods like these, would be in violation of this Canadian law. Canada's Criminal Code section 83.03 and related provisions are also specific. Charities, organizations and other persons are prohibited from directly or indirectly facilitating “any transaction in respect of property” that is controlled on behalf of an identified terrorist group.
We urge Canada to take whatever steps are necessary to allow Canadian humanitarian assistance to flow to those in need. The UN Security Council resolved in December that aid to Afghanistan should flow even in the face of anti-terrorism sanctions, but Canada is out of step. Based on external legal advice, our understanding is that the Minister of Public Safety could provide an exemption to the restrictive provisions through section 83.09 of the Criminal Code. In fact, we believe he and his department have an urgent obligation to do so.
There are other countries with similar laws that have recently made exemptions or adopted a more pragmatic and flexible approach to get assistance into Afghanistan. In fact, in World Vision's global federation, Canada is currently the only office that is unable to provide funds or goods to that country.
We urge the government to find a solution that would allow Canadian organizations to meet their humanitarian imperative and deliver assistance in Afghanistan without facing the risk of criminal sanctions. We should take whatever steps are possible so that the counterterrorism provisions do not undermine the delivery of neutral, impartial and desperately needed humanitarian assistance.
Thank you for the opportunity to speak with you today.