Evidence of meeting #8 for Afghanistan in the 44th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was chair.

A video is available from Parliament.

On the agenda

MPs speaking

Also speaking

Christopher MacLennan  Deputy Minister, International Development, Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development
Paul Thoppil  Assistant Deputy Minister, Asia Pacific, Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development
Jennifer Loten  Director General, International Crime and Terrorism, Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development
Stephen Salewicz  Director General, International Humanitarian Assistance, Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development
Patrick Hill  Executive Director and Senior General Counsel, Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development

8:25 p.m.

Liberal

Salma Zahid Liberal Scarborough Centre, ON

No. It's for whoever can answer it.

8:25 p.m.

Liberal

The Chair Liberal Sukh Dhaliwal

Mr. Salewicz, go ahead please.

8:25 p.m.

Director General, International Humanitarian Assistance, Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development

Stephen Salewicz

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Indeed, this is an important issue for us. We recognize the burden placed on regional countries and the needs of Afghan refugees who have fled the country.

So far this year, we have provided $8.4 million to programming outside of Afghanistan, in countries in the region. As I've mentioned previously, those funds are flowing through the WFP and the UNHCR for their programming in those countries.

8:25 p.m.

Liberal

Salma Zahid Liberal Scarborough Centre, ON

Through you, Chair, my next question is with regard to the humanitarian aid that is reaching people in Afghanistan.

What efforts are being made by Canada to make sure that humanitarian aid reaches those households that are women only? There are many. We have heard testimony in our last few meetings that there are many households which are only women-led. It is very difficult for them to get out of the house, based on the situation.

What effort is being made to make sure that the humanitarian aid reaches women and young girls?

8:25 p.m.

Director General, International Humanitarian Assistance, Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development

Stephen Salewicz

Indeed, the focus of our humanitarian assistance is always, first and foremost, trying to reach the most vulnerable. With that in mind, female-headed households in Afghanistan are extremely vulnerable.

There are concerns about access for women, given the changes to the laws in Afghanistan. We know that these challenges of ensuring equitable access are felt pretty significantly by women and girls. Our partners work tirelessly to respond to this. They are challenged by the Taliban daily in accessing women and girls, but they have a number of things that they put in place to try to make things work. They have female humanitarian staff present all the time to assist and try to open the door, so to speak, for assistance. They create gender-segregated distribution sites for women and girls. They scale up services through mobile teams for health care, for instance, so that women and girls don't have to travel to access them.

They are putting in place different programs, but the needs are immense, and they are challenged to meet all of those needs.

8:25 p.m.

Liberal

The Chair Liberal Sukh Dhaliwal

You have 10 seconds, Madam Zahid.

8:25 p.m.

Liberal

Salma Zahid Liberal Scarborough Centre, ON

Give a quick answer, please. When Canada announced matching funds, what response did we get to that from Canadians?

8:30 p.m.

Liberal

The Chair Liberal Sukh Dhaliwal

Thank you very much, Madam Zahid. Your time is up.

8:30 p.m.

Liberal

Salma Zahid Liberal Scarborough Centre, ON

Thank you.

8:30 p.m.

Liberal

The Chair Liberal Sukh Dhaliwal

Now, on behalf of all members of Parliament on the committee, I would like to thank the assistant deputy minister for Asia Pacific, Mr. Thoppil; director general of international crime and terrorism, Madam Jennifer Loten; director general of international humanitarian assistance, Stephen Salewicz; and executive director and senior general counsel, Patrick Hill.

Thank you for your input into the committee. I appreciate your time and efforts. The very best to you on behalf of the committee.

Thank you to all of the members for being respectful of the time.

The meeting is now adjourned.