Mr. Chairman, ladies and gentlemen, I would like to start by thanking the committee for inviting the Canadian International Development Agency and Foreign Affairs here today.
This is my first appearance before this committee. It is a privilege to be able to address you and to discuss the complexity of Sudan's development and humanitarian assistance challenges.
As you well know, Sudan's humanitarian situation remains an alarming one. Canada has adopted a whole-of-government approach to bring relief to the people of Sudan to ease human suffering, while working in cooperation with its Canadian and international partners. Darfur lies at the heart of this crisis. However, we execute projects, not only in Darfur, but throughout Sudan, to support the country's sustainable development.
The conflict in Darfur is still causing instability and thus resulting in more and more humanitarian needs. Despite the signing of the Darfur Peace Agreement, security conditions keep deteriorating and Arab militias (the Janjaweed) and Sudanese Forces continue to fight, particularly in Northern Darfur, as Mr. Chairman so eloquently noted this morning.
From the humanitarian perspective, over 1.8 million people are internally displaced in Darfur, and currently 3 million require food assistance for survival. Even though the comprehensive peace agreement put an end to the hostilities between the North and South of Sudan, after a long civil war, the humanitarian situation throughout Sudan remains challenging. The population continues to need assistance to meet its basic needs and to be able to begin rebuilding homes and re-establishing communities.
More than one million internally displaced persons and refugee returnees have returned to communities with little or no infrastructure or basic services in place. We risk losing the progress made in the peace process if we do not continue to support these vulnerable populations.
Since April 2005, Canada pledged a total of $110 million for humanitarian assistance, reconstruction, and rehabilitation in Sudan. Of that amount, $60 million is specifically for humanitarian assistance.
These funds assist organizations, such as Canadian NGOs, the International Committee of the Red Cross, and the United Nations, to provide support in the areas of civilian protection, health and basic services, water and sanitation, and food aid.
I would like to highlight the excellent work being done through our network of Canadian and international partners. They continue to apply their know-how and acute comprehension of the complex issues in Sudan in an effective manner, even within the unstable and hostile environments they face on a daily basis.
Security and access remain key impediments to delivering assistance. CIDA regularly conducts field missions to ensure our initiatives with the international community are well coordinated and performing as they should be.
Within the perils and instability that now define this country, positive results have emerged. For instance, the World Food Programme operations in Sudan are expected to feed an estimated 6.1 million people in 2006. Canada is providing support to those operations.
Of particular note, in April of this year, the World Food Programme announced that funding shortages had forced it to institute half rations in Darfur camps. The immediate response of Canada and the U.S. allowed it to reverse this decision. In early May, as you know, Canada provided $10 million for this purpose.
CIDA supports Canadian NGOs, such as Oxfam Québec and World Vision Canada, and is contributing to provide access to clean water and proper hygiene facilities for an estimated 116,000 people in Darfur. Our ongoing support to a Canadian Red Cross Society project in Darfur is ensuring access to primary health care for up to 25,000 internally displaced persons and residents of the host community. Thus, even within the unstable environment, some basic human needs are being met.
In order to ensure the long-term sustainability of the country as a whole, rehabilitation reconstruction efforts are being made throughout Sudan.
For instance, CIDA is supporting the 2005 comprehensive peace agreement between the north and the south of Sudan.
Canada and the international donor community have supported reconstruction rehabilitation results. For instance, in the health sector, 840 medical kits have been delivered to health facilities located mostly in the south of Sudan. In the educational sector, 20,000 educational kits were provided to teachers, while primary schools were provided with 950,000 textbooks. Over 150,000 kilometres of important roads in Sudan have been de-mined, thus allowing safer road transport.
These results illustrate how Canada, in collaboration with our partners, is making a difference in Sudan.
In conclusion, although some progress has been made, renewed fighting and impeded humanitarian access in Darfur underscore the challenges of working in a fragile context.
CIDA is contributing to Canada's whole-of-government approach in its efforts to reduce the vulnerability of crisis-affected populations and to restore the capacity of public institutions in civil society.
CIDA continues to balance support for the life-saving and early recovery needs of displaced populations with long-term rehabilitation and reconstruction activities that can promote the conditions for sustainable development in all of Sudan.
Thank you.