Thank you, Elly.
First, increase support for humanitarian assistance to meet urgent needs. Funding pledged for the 2013 United Nations consolidated appeal process for Mali is far too low at just 2% of allocated funds. Donor countries, including Canada, need to commit urgent funding to support the provision of life-saving humanitarian assistance, both to the UN's appeal and to NGOs operating in Mali.
Priority must be given to the most critical sectors, such as food security and nutrition, health, water and sanitation, and child protection in both the southern and northern parts of Mali. Many affected children in Mali are at risk of acute malnutrition and lack access to basic education.
Second, ensure children are protected from exploitation and abuse in line with the relevant UN resolutions and the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Conflict significantly increases protection risks for children and thus particular attention must be paid to assessing such risks and heightened vulnerabilities.
In recent weeks World Vision has heard reports from displaced communities of forced marriage, rape, and forced recruitment of children into armed groups, corroborating previous reports from other actors. Children are also particularly vulnerable to the effects of displacement, including increased chance of separation from parents and disruption to education. Broad protection concerns regarding their safety must be taken into account with proactive steps taken to monitor and mitigate these protection risks. We should ensure adequate presence of child protection specialists on the ground. Donors, including Canada, should urgently fund critical child protection capacity gaps and interventions.
All military forces, police, and civilians deployed to Mali should receive specialized child protection pre-deployment training, which includes the capacity to prevent and monitor violations against children. Efforts should be made to ensure that child protection concerns are raised early and consistently in ongoing mediation efforts and adequately reflected in an eventual ceasefire and peace agreement. This includes dedicated initiatives for the demobilization of child soldiers, ensuring they receive appropriate assistance.
The alarming reports of sexual violence against women and girls in Mali also call for pre-deployment training of all armed forces, police, and civilians in addressing sexual violence in all phases of the operation, including the earliest mediation and ceasefire efforts. Armed groups must immediately cease recruiting children under the age of 18 and release all children previously recruited into proper care provided by humanitarian agencies.
Third, ensure free and unimpeded humanitarian access to the affected populations as well as free and unimpeded passage of all civilians out of the areas of military engagement and preserve the independent and civilian-led nature of humanitarian access and neutrality of action.
Despite improvements of access to areas in the north of Mali to assess the needs of affected civilians, the ongoing insecurity has forced many humanitarian actors to continue working with a reduced presence on the ground.
We call on all armed and military actors and regional governments to take appropriate steps to ensure the safety and security of humanitarian personnel and supplies, unhindered access for delivery of aid to persons in need, and free and unimpeded passage of all civilians out of areas of military engagement in accordance with international humanitarian, human rights, and refugee law.
We call on all military actors to maintain a clear separation of military and humanitarian objectives. This requires clear instructions to forces to not engage in humanitarian action unless requested by the UN emergency relief coordinator. Military forces must adhere to the military and civil defence assets guidelines. It is also critical that any military response respect the humanitarian operating environment for independent, neutral, and impartial humanitarian actors to provide assistance to communities and to ensure the right of civilians to receive life-saving assistance. This must apply to all actors, including ECOWAS.
Fourth, continue to strengthen mechanisms for facilitating coordination between the growing number of military actors and organizations providing humanitarian assistance. The increasing presence of multiple military actors in Mali and the speed with which they have been deployed has led to a lack of strategic clarity. This must be urgently addressed to ensure both the safety of civilians and adherence to applicable international humanitarian, human rights, and refugee law.
World Vision welcomes the timely deployment of a civil-military coordinator to Mali by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and the establishment of a civil-military coordination cell in Bamako.
World Vision calls for two things: UN member states contributing towards the military intervention to urgently establish an appropriate and effective military-to-military coordination mechanism for all international forces and the Malian army; and development of country-specific civil-military guidelines through a signed agreement to set boundaries between civil and military operations, promote an understanding between the actors, and provide a means of accountability.
Finally, World Vision does not see a military solution to the crisis in Mali. We acknowledge the Malian road map for the transition put forward by the Government of Mali. We advocate that it include real provisions for wide civil society consultations and representation as part of the peace process and recovery efforts. We urge Canada to help support the implementation of this difficult process through diplomacy and ongoing support. Canada needs to promote an inclusive process that adequately takes into account the voice and genuine grievances of all communities, including the unique vulnerabilities of children.
Thank you again for inviting World Vision to present. We welcome the opportunity to share with your our experience and recommendations, and will be pleased to take any questions.