Good morning. I would like to begin by thanking the Chair, Mr. Sorenson, as well as the other members of this committee for inviting Rights and Democracy to appear today.
For nearly 20 years, Rights and Democracy has been dedicated to bringing to reality the rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and its binding covenants and other international human rights instruments.
We promote and defend human rights and democratic freedoms around the world. We support human rights defenders and democracy activists striving to achieve better lives for themselves and their communities. We assist societies in the building of democratic institutions and processes that give effect to universal human rights.
I am pleased to represent the board of directors of Rights and Democracy at this important meeting. I would like to offer the regrets of the Chair of the Board, Aurel Braun, who could not be with us today due to a family emergency.
The act that created Rights and Democracy gave it a board of directors that includes 10 Canadian members from across the country as well as three international members to ensure that developing countries are represented.
My colleague Payam Akhavan, who is here today, as well as our members from La Paz, Regina, Kabul, Calgary, Bamako, Toronto and Ottawa will no doubt agree with me when I state that the entire board of directors thanks Parliament for its support to Rights and Democracy over the last 20 years and looks forward to building on our important relationship over the next 20 years.
The five-year review of our organization, which was completed by the Office of the Inspector General of the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade and tabled in Parliament by Minister Cannon, is an important element of the act that established Rights and Democracy.
In 1988, when Canada's Parliament gave Rights and Democracy the mandate to strengthen democratic institutions and programs that give effect to the International Bill of Human Rights, it ensured that our work would be carried out on behalf of Canadians.
By appearing before you today, we are reporting back to Canadians, through their representatives in Parliament, on our important accomplishments over the last five years. We are proud of these accomplishments. As you will see from the evaluation report and from the presentation by our President, Rémy Beauregard, Rights and Democracy is implementing its mandate in some of the most difficult and dangerous countries in the world, where human rights remain unfulfilled and where democracy seems a long way from taking root.
Notwithstanding the challenges inherent in our line of work, the programs and activities of Rights and Democracy are, in the words of the evaluators, making “a positive contribution to Canada's role in the area of human rights and democratic development on the international stage.” Nowhere is this more true than in Canada's two largest recipients of official development assistance.
In Afghanistan, Rights and Democracy supports the participation of women in the transformation of Afghan society. We are working with women's rights groups and traditional leaders to halt the discriminatory practices toward women, especially in marriage. We contributed to building a democratic culture based on human rights through a number of local partnerships throughout the country. Rights and Democracy's efforts lead to the approval by the Supreme Court of Afghanistan of a new marriage contract that respects women's rights.
We are currently working with an Afghan law-drafting committee that is facing enormous challenges to re-write the country's family law. Our office in Kabul, which employs 18 people, is staffed entirely by Afghan nationals. Our programs touch thousands of people throughout Afghanistan.
In Haiti, Rights and Democracy contributed to the establishment of the Office of the Ombudsman, and organized human rights tribunals after the fall of the dictatorship in 1994. Through our office in Port-au-Prince, we trained over 350 civil society activists throughout the country in advocacy techniques, leading to greater citizen participation in the democratic process.
With funding from CIDA, we are currently working with political parties and politically-active youth to promote multi-party dialogue, encourage the political participation of women and foster greater State-society relations on important human rights issues such as access to food and civil registration.
These examples point to the high quality of our programs in Canada's priority countries. Our work in Haiti and Afghanistan also points to another important factor in the success of our endeavours: sustainable long-term financing. These two country programs benefit from long-term funding arrangements with CIDA, which allow us to operate through offices in the field. Rights and Democracy, as an executing agency, has consistently delivered on results.
However, most of the work we do, whether it is supporting the pro-democracy movement in Burma or documenting human rights violations in Zimbabwe, is funded through an annual parliamentary allocation. This committee's support was instrumental in securing a significant increase in Rights and Democracy's parliamentary allocation five years ago to approximately $9.2 million. The five-year review demonstrates that we have generated positive results with this allocation, and it recommends a series of steps to improve our programs and operations.
Mr. Beauregard will outline what has been done, with the support of the board of directors, to implement these recommendations. He will also explain why the future success of Rights and Democracy depends on a multi-year, single-source funding agreement with the Government of Canada for its parliamentary allocation. As we prepare to finalize our strategic plan for 2010 to 2015, your knowledge and expertise, and indeed your support, will be crucial.
Before I conclude, I would be remiss if I did not recognize the important contribution of Rights and Democracy's staff, represented today by its union's president, Maxime Longangué, and our partners across the globe. As you have seen on several occasions in the past when Rights and Democracy experts have come before this committee, our staff is dedicated to the cause of human rights and democracy, and pursue the mission of the institution with unparalleled professionalism and determination; our employees are the guardians of our mandate in the field.
Parliamentarians, you can rest assured that Rights and Democracy will, with your support, continue executing its mandate of promoting and defending human rights and democratic development throughout the world—that is to say, promoting and defending values dear to all Canadians.
Thank you.