Along with Jim, I'd like to say thank you for the invitation to be here.
Merci, Madame Deschamps, pour l'invitation de Bloc Québécois.
KAIROS, as Jim has said, has a long history of working with the Sudan churches, predating the recent conflict in Darfur. Our relationship with the Sudan Council of Churches goes back more than 25 years.
KAIROS's human rights work has an explicit focus on the rights of women and girls. Our board mandates that 25% of our partnerships around the world are with women's organizations. In its current human rights programming, KAIROS is committed to deepening its research and advocacy on behalf of women, human rights, and peace building. Specifically, we've launched with our partners in Sudan a Women of Courage initiative, which highlights the work of women in defending the rights of women and building peace. The focus of this project is to develop strategies for overcoming gender-based violence, by drawing upon international human rights instruments like UN Security Council Resolution 1325.
I think it would be important for Canada to support initiatives coming from women's organizations inside Sudan. I'm very aware that you have already heard from some excellent representatives of that aspect of civil society. Women's organizations, as part of Canada's maternal health initiative, need to go a little bit further and empower Sudanese women, just as they need to empower Canadian members of civil society. We need to encourage our partners in the NGO sector not simply to buy into the service delivery aspect to maternal health without important advocacy on issues related to UN Security Council Resolution 1325--for example, the inclusion of women's rights and women's empowerment in the defence of women and girls.
Finally, I'd like to say a few words about the north. It seems to us that not enough attention is being paid to issues in the north of Sudan. First, as many of you know, there are an estimated 1.5 million southerners in the north. They are people displaced from the decades of war in southern Sudan. There are questions about their future. We need to encourage both northern and southern Sudanese leaders to promise not to expel one another's citizens after the results of the referendum. There are still questions specifically about citizenship rights in northern Sudan. The Government of Southern Sudan, as we just heard an hour ago from members of that government, has agreed to recognize northern Sudanese in the south as citizens. We haven't had the same guarantees from the government in the northern part of the country. Will they recognize those who are called IDPs, or internally displaced persons, in the north as citizens if the results of the referendum go the way most people expect them to?
There is palpable fear when you speak with people in northern Sudan that Sudan without the south could become what they term to me as “another Saudi Arabia”, particularly in terms of women's rights. There is a great fear that western governments—and western NGOs, it must be said—will abandon the north to the NCP, which is the government.
Thirdly, related to the north, there are issues in the border area around oil and revenue sharing. We think it's incumbent upon Canada to ensure that both parties agree that any border settlement encourages both parties to work constructively towards monitoring of oil revenues. As well, if Canadian companies are going to invest in Sudan after the referendum, they need to understand the inherent risks of doing so and be careful not to worsen the security situation and the human rights situation.
In conclusion, I'd just like to say that the key message coming from partners in Sudan is that the referendum happen on time. There are already some problems arising around the registration process, we understand, but it's important for them that the referendum, on time, is free, fair, and transparent.
If Canada has one thing to contribute to post-referendum Sudan, our plea would be to support the courageous women's organizations and other civil society organizations in both the north and, equally, southern Sudan.
Thank you.