Thank you, Mr. Chair.
It is important to recognize that the work we do is long-term. We cannot go into a developing country that is experiencing difficulties and think that we can solve all its problems within a year by making a few investments.
The long-term funding that you refer to has an impact on our strategic planning and decision-making. People often ask us why we are not involved in certain countries. Working in a country where we have no prior experience requires between one and a half and three years of preparation. We have to establish contacts, understand the environment and make sure that our future partners are reliable. An entire network has to be established before we can become involved.
Having done work of that kind over a number of years on the continent of Africa, I am increasingly wary of sporadic interventions. You cannot simply sprinkle a series of measures over a problem and think that the work has been done. That is why it is important that we receive long-term funding of this kind.
My colleague is asking me to give an example. The best example that I can give is that of Haiti. Over the last 40 years, each time there was a crisis there, we would allocate a few resources and, as soon as the situation seemed to return to normal, we would move elsewhere and wait for the next crisis.