Foreign Affairs Committee on Feb. 14th, 2013

[The Chair, Conservative, Dean Allison]

Thank you very much.

We're going to move over to Madame Péclet for five minutes, please.

[Ève Péclet, NDP, La Pointe-de-l'Île, QC]

Good afternoon. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

My first question has to do with the needs on the ground. I'd like to know what kind of assistance and expertise you need now to help women and children.

Could you also describe the situation in the refugee camps?

[Quentin Levet]

Thank you for your question.

The problem in Mali today is that some areas are underfunded, making any integrated response impossible. Certain areas have been allocated resources, especially support that allowed us to cope with and ease the 2012 nutrition crisis. And Canada falls into that category. So in that respect, Canada's involvement, along with the support of other donors, has had a significant impact. Unfortunately, what we're dealing with today are problems related to underfunded areas, such as access to drinking water, health care and education. It's impossible, then, to operate within an integrated approach and to sustain the progress we made in 2012.

I'm not saying it's a problem and there's been no improvement. In 2012, we were able to do a lot of things that helped. But if we want to sustain that momentum and build on the progress made, it is imperative to operate under an integrated vision that is adequately funded.

Similar to the refugee situation, these areas have to be taken into account. As for women and children, access to health care and education is vital. Pressure must be brought to bear if an integrated humanitarian response to the current situation in Mali is going to be achieved.

[Ève Péclet, NDP, La Pointe-de-l'Île, QC]

Would you say the education programs address specific needs? Are nutrition programs for children underfunded at the moment?

Could you prioritize the needs in some sort of list that Canada could use, especially in terms of providing support for the agencies? What are your needs and priorities right now?

[Quentin Levet]

Let's look at it by area.

In terms of food security, things have improved in the past few months. It's very positive. But that doesn't mean we'll see an impact on nutrition in the short term. As I mentioned, there are still 660,000 children under the age of 5 who are at risk of malnutrition in 2013. So, in the area of nutrition, the most important thing is staying on that same path. As for those children, we're not out of the woods. We have to keep applying pressure there.

When you look at areas such as health, education and access to clean drinking water, getting programs off the ground is what's needed. Thus far, those programs have been lacking. A bigger focus on those programs is necessary to prevent a humanitarian assistance deficit in those areas.

Protection is also a huge issue with respect to women and children. That is particularly true in northern Mali right now. We are beginning to anticipate possible guerrilla fighting between armed groups. So protection is indeed a major concern.

[The Chair, Conservative, Dean Allison]

Thank you, Madame Péclet.

Oui, you've got 30 seconds.

[Hélène Laverdière, NDP, Laurier—Sainte-Marie, QC]

We, on the opposition side, are very clear on the fact that, when you ask for donations for a specific year, you consider the donations received during that year and, in no way, does it decrease a country's previous contributions.

At the very beginning of your presentation, you said that 700,000 people were in need of immediate assistance. I would imagine that includes the 400,000 Malians who have been displaced, both inside and outside the country. I'd like to know where those 700,000 people are.

[Quentin Levet]

Thank you very much for that question.

[The Chair, Conservative, Dean Allison]

Monsieur Levet, just a quick response if you could for this answer.

[Quentin Levet]

Yes, I will.

Most of those 700,000 people live around urban centres, primarily Gao and Kidal. Those are the most affected regions today, together with Ménaka, along the border.

[The Chair, Conservative, Dean Allison]

Merci beaucoup.

Go ahead, Monsieur Levet. Did you have one final thought?

[Quentin Levet]

It's just to say that part of the IDPs still remain in the north. But again please have a look and consider that 80% of the needs remain in the south of the country.

[The Chair, Conservative, Dean Allison]

Okay, thank you.

Thank you very much.

Mr. Dechert, five minutes, please.

[Bob Dechert, Conservative, Mississauga—Erindale, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

And thank you, Mr. Levet, for your comments and important information today.

I just wanted to follow up for a moment on a question that my colleague Madame Laverdière mentioned about the refugees who have been displaced by the current violence in Mali. Are these displaced persons? We've been hearing that the French forces have been making very good gains in retaking control of some of the major towns and villages in northern Mali. Are the refugees starting to return home yet?

[Quentin Levet]

Not exactly, sir. I can tell you frankly we had thought at some point there were some positive signs when we interviewed some of these refugees in the neighbouring countries that they would likely return once security is established. What we can assess right now is that given the risk of retaliation from the Malian army, these people are more willing to stay and to wait. That's basically the situation to clarify in this respect.

[Bob Dechert, Conservative, Mississauga—Erindale, ON]

Don't they trust the Malian army?

[Quentin Levet]

Right now the influx of refugees who we assess are mostly Tuareg and Arab people. These people are fearing the army, but they are also fearing the civilians in some cities, because they fear it being said that they collaborated with the rebel groups. We've seen already a lot of shops looted, etc. Today these people are fearing reprisals, which is why they continue to seek refuge in the neighbouring countries.

[Bob Dechert, Conservative, Mississauga—Erindale, ON]

Do they trust the French army?

[Quentin Levet]

Yes, sir. They trust the French army.

[Bob Dechert, Conservative, Mississauga—Erindale, ON]

Thank you.

You mentioned earlier the crisis that hit the Sahel region, including Mali, and you talked about the almost 20 million people, I think, who were affected by that, the million children or more who may be at risk of dying from severe, acute malnutrition.

As you know, through our Canadian International Development Agency, Canada helped to meet vital humanitarian needs in the Sahel as part of its efforts, and we created the Sahel crisis matching fund. Under that program, for every Canadian dollar or any eligible dollar that was donated by individual Canadians to the Canadian charities, Canada set aside one additional dollar for the Sahel crisis matching fund. CIDA will allocate these funds to established Canadian international humanitarian organizations and humanitarian assistance efforts that benefit the people most affected by the crisis.

Were you aware of this fund? Can you speak about what kinds of projects those funds would have supported in the Sahel region?

[Quentin Levet]

Frankly, I would not be able to tell you precisely what was the direct impact of the Canadian funding in terms of projects, as such. I have a broad overview. What I can tell you is that I'm sure you contributed to the fact. For example, I would say that food assistance was able to reach between two million to six million people each month. Some 850,000 children suffering from severe malnutrition were also admitted into temporary feeding centres. I'm convinced you have contributed to these results that today enable us to avoid a major humanitarian crisis in the Sahel region. You were there for that.

What I stress today is that it doesn't mean it is finished. We need to ensure the continuity with that, to look at the gaps and also to invest in resilience.

[Bob Dechert, Conservative, Mississauga—Erindale, ON]

I understand that Canada's contribution last year was $56 million, including the matching funds. You got into, in that last answer, some of the success stories in the Sahel region. Can you give us some more examples of the success stories that Canada and the other international contributors were able to make in the Sahel region in response to the drought?

[Quentin Levet]

Funding is one thing, but outside of funding, I would say that the early action has been very much praised by main donors, including Canada. Early action has helped us to prepare for the worst and has made us able to respond in a timely way to the crisis. It means that if the necessary funding to respond to the crisis hadn't come on time, we would not have been able to reach the same results. It is funding on the one hand, but also our ability to react in a timely way, thanks to early action. Together with the funding, it ensured that we reached this impact.

[The Chair, Conservative, Dean Allison]

Thank you, Mr. Dechert.

And to Mr. Levet, thank you very much for taking time today to speak to our committee. That's all the time we have, so I want to thank you again for your testimony, and questions and answers.

[Quentin Levet]

Thank you very much.