Evidence of meeting #34 for Foreign Affairs and International Development in the 41st Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was marriage.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Dean Allison
Dr. Dyalchand, would you make a very quick response because he's just over his time.
Member, Institute for Health Management, Pachod, Girls Not Brides: The Global Partnership to End Child Marriage
We don't have experience working in conflict zones and with communities that are suffering from that, but sexual abuse is happening in other communities as well. The way one deals with that kind of issue really is, as I said, to make the men understand that it is to their advantage, it is to their benefit, to bring this down. It is changing the narrative of masculinity in these communities by changing the social norm.
Conservative
David Anderson Conservative Cypress Hills—Grasslands, SK
Amina, do you have anything to say to that?
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Dean Allison
Sorry, David, we'll have to catch you on the next round.
Mr. Garneau, for seven minutes.
Liberal
Marc Garneau Liberal Westmount—Ville-Marie, QC
Witnesses, thank you for the work you do and for explaining it so clearly.
I was struck by the mention of the four drivers: poverty, security, tradition, and gender inequality. Each of those in its own way is a daunting challenge, so I got a good sense of the magnitude of the challenge.
You are an NGO. You've described to some extent what you do to try to make people aware of the fact that there are many more disadvantages to child marriage.
Mr. Dyalchand, in the case of India, and Ms. Hanga, in the case of Nigeria, are governments in those countries seized with this? Are they participating in any way to address the issue? Do they see the same value in eliminating child marriage as obviously you do?
Member, Isa Wali Empowerment Initiative, Girls Not Brides: The Global Partnership to End Child Marriage
In northwestern Nigeria particularly it's not really child marriage that's talked about; it's more to do with education. I know that, for instance, in Kano state, the governor has been very supportive of girls' education. He makes sure there's public transportation to take girls to and from school and makes education free, even though there are hidden costs. Those are the issues that really make it difficult for very poor families: buying uniforms, buying books, and things like that.
There's also a lot of support for economic empowerment because of the poverty issue. They give grants to women for income generating activities. In that way, that's what's been going on.
Child marriage as a topic in itself is not really brought out into the open. It's a very sensitive issue. It's a Muslim community. People tend to misinterpret child marriage as being a religious thing, whereas it's actually cultural. The focus tends to be on education, so that's how we've been going around child marriage, actually.
Member, Institute for Health Management, Pachod, Girls Not Brides: The Global Partnership to End Child Marriage
In India, earlier in 2014, the Government of India came up with a very good, comprehensive, integrated adolescent health and development policy. The problem in India is that the formulation takes place at the federal level, whereas implementation takes place at the state level, and there lies the major gap between policy formulation and its implementation, simply because this is the state's subject.
That is where I would really like to endorse what Princess Mabel has already said. This is the reason we need to be looking at grassroots level work and supporting it at the state level, so that at the state level, if a change occurs, we can take that state as an example and bring about a change in other states and at the federal level. That's the kind of policy change and policy advocacy we're trying to achieve.
Liberal
Marc Garneau Liberal Westmount—Ville-Marie, QC
You described a rural setting where village leaders are approached and they are told about the disadvantages of child marriage. They, hopefully, see the value of what you have told them and they can transmit that downward.
I'm interested in the non-rural setting, the cities. Is there a different approach? I had the sense from what you were talking about that child marriage was not quite as common in urban centres. Could you speak to the urban challenge?
Member, Isa Wali Empowerment Initiative, Girls Not Brides: The Global Partnership to End Child Marriage
Child marriage is really on the decrease in urban centres. That's because there are more facilities available like schools and jobs, so people can see the benefits of having an education. Because you have a mix of both educated and non-educated all living together, even those who are not really educated can see from those who are getting an education that they are able to have a better lifestyle. It encourages them to also put their own children in school, whereas in the rural communities, what you find is even for the few who may be educated, they tend to migrate to the urban areas leaving the non-educated ones still in the rural areas. If a whole lot of them are living together, and everybody is not educated, they don't see any problem. Even though they are experiencing lots of challenges, there's no value in education. That's not really an issue in the urban areas.
Sometimes it's a bit more about forced marriages, but it's still more rural areas that experience these problems. That's why we focus on the rural areas and not the urban areas. Of course, there are a lot of non-governmental organizations working in the urban areas as well, so they have a lot of opportunities.
Liberal
Marc Garneau Liberal Westmount—Ville-Marie, QC
If Canada provides funding to an organization such as yours, how is that money used? I want to understand more of the nitty-gritty details of what happens to that funding.
Member, Institute for Health Management, Pachod, Girls Not Brides: The Global Partnership to End Child Marriage
What we are using that funding for is to purchase bicycles for girls to go to school. Only a tenth of the villages have schools up to secondary education. If a girl has to continue her education, she has to go to a neighbouring village to be able to do so. Bicycles increase their mobility. Providing them with bicycles is a great opportunity; it's a great intervention to continue with their higher education.
We provide them with cheap tablets to be able to learn 21st century skills. Why should they be stitching, sewing, or doing some of the older traditional things that really do not improve their livelihood? What we are trying to do is provide them with modern skills that they can use in their careers in the future. That's really where the money is spent. It is spent in providing health care to adolescent girls. Huge costs are involved, and our realization is that, unless it's provided at the primary level, unless morbidity is identified at the primary level and referral made to health facilities, their morbidity is not going to be addressed. It's basically these three areas of increasing education, of empowering them, and of providing health care.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Dean Allison
Thank you, Mr. Garneau.
We only have about five minutes left. We're going to give Mr. Goldring about two minutes and then we're going to give Mr. Stoffer two minutes.
Mr. Goldring.
Conservative
Peter Goldring Conservative Edmonton East, AB
Thank you very much for being here.
Princess Mabel, it's heartening to see your passion for this very important issue.
Dr. Ashok, I was in Ethiopia looking at some of the wonderful work that Canada has been doing there on child nutrition and birthing care. I can certainly see that this issue of child marriages effectively is very much a part of the issue and part of the problem. It was been briefly discussed that you have an issue at the United Nations where you're going to be getting some form of a proclamation from them, I suppose, and it has been mentioned that, perhaps at the government level, more could be done than just at the local level.
There's one other level here, too. In Ethiopia it was very evident to me that that's rather the birthplace of orthodoxy. There are the religious elements, because ultimately, this does go to the community churches. Just speaking on the orthodoxy, although there are Muslims there too, but on the orthodoxy level, there are world bodies, and there is a world body of parliamentarians of some 25 countries that sit and discuss these types of issues.
My question is whether you have considered taking your presentation, as you are here today, to bodies like that that to have direct input to the patriarchs, the metropolitans of their various religions. Perhaps some social benefit could come down from the higher echelon levels to the communities themselves, too. Is this being considered as an avenue of approach for discussion?
Chair, Girls Not Brides: The Global Partnership to End Child Marriage
It definitely is. The reality is not one religion says to marry your girls at a young age, and too often the religious leaders are either involved in the act of marriage or at least they're not doing enough to stop it. We also know of examples whereby religious leaders are in their community saying that this is not the right thing to do.
For the last four years we have tried to reach out through various channels to engage with religious leaders. Sometimes we get a good response, and at other times it is very difficult. Unfortunately, the whole field of religious leadership is very much dominated by men and very often girls and women are not yet high enough on their agenda. We will continue to work with them because we see openings and we see enlightened religious leaders across all religions, at a high level but also at the grassroots level. We know they're going to be crucial in creating the change we want to see.
Conservative
Peter Goldring Conservative Edmonton East, AB
In many of these countries of course the religious leaders are more highly respected than their own governments. Given the situation where it's relatively peaceful, as Ethiopia was, I would think that going to the top of the religions to see if they can have impact down through the level of their authorities....
Chair, Girls Not Brides: The Global Partnership to End Child Marriage
The “Developmental Bible” was developed in Ethiopia. Every Saturday or Sunday when the preaching takes place, they're links to development issues. It's very interesting, and they now want to translate it into a “Developmental Koran”.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Dean Allison
Thank you very much.
Mr. Stoffer, you have just two minutes, sir.
NDP
Peter Stoffer NDP Sackville—Eastern Shore, NS
Thank you very much.
I have many questions. My daughter went to Tanzania a couple of years ago on Project TEMBO. She keeps in contact with those girls and women about the educational opportunities they have had, and their growth and development is quite amazing. I honestly believe that education is the key.
Ms. van Oranje, we've talked about what governments have been doing. Have you gone to organizations like the Gates Foundation? Their network of tablets and the Internet, the 21st century educational opportunities.... Have you approached those types of organizations for assistance?
I personally want to say, Madam, [Member speaks in Dutch].
Chair, Girls Not Brides: The Global Partnership to End Child Marriage
We are in contact with the Gates Foundation. The encouraging news is that where the Gates Foundation's development work was very much focused on agricultural and food issues and health issues, they've now realized that some of the softer issues, especially girls and women, need to be addressed if you want to make progress on these measurable issues. In the last few months Melinda Gates has announced a big initiative around girls and women, and we're in regular contact with her.
I can assure you that we realize this issue can only change if everybody works together. Governments in our prevalence countries, governments like yours that can make money available, UN institutions, grassroots groups, human rights groups, religious leaders, traditional leaders, all have to work together. If we all work together and create an integrated approach, we're going to make a difference.
We know that changing social norms is very difficult. One of the great examples is foot binding in China. It existed for hundreds of years. Do you know how many years it took to change it? Twenty, because at some point the honourable thing wasn't to bind the feet of your daughters any longer; the honourable thing became not to bind the feet of your daughters. If we can reach that tipping point thanks to the work of these guys, we're going to have a world without child marriage.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Dean Allison
Thank you.
To our witnesses, I thank you very much.
We're going to end this part of the meeting and get our next witnesses in.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Dean Allison
I want to welcome our next round of panellists.
From Plan International Canada Inc., we have Rosemary McCarney, who is the president and chief executive officer. Welcome. We are glad to have you here today.
From CARE Canada, we have Jackie Wright, who is the vice-president of international programs. Jackie, we're glad to have you here.
Joining us via telephone, we have Cicely McWilliam, who is the senior adviser of policies for campaigns from Save the Children Canada. Cicely, welcome.
I'm going to start with Rosemary for her opening presentation. Then we'll go to Jacquelyn. Then we'll finish up with Cicely. I will recognize you when it's time to go.
Rosemary, we'll turn it over to you.
Rosemary McCarney President and Chief Executive Officer, Plan International Canada Inc.
Good morning. Thank you very much for the opportunity to appear today.
I'd like to use the time to speak specifically about some practical measures that the Government of Canada can take to bolster child protection efforts around the world.
As the chair mentioned, I am the president and CEO of Plan International Canada. Plan Canada is one of the world's oldest and largest development agencies. We have no political or religious affiliation. We operate in over 80 countries around the world. We like to say that we have over 75 years of lessons that are hard learned in the development sector.
I noticed the questions earlier around war and conflict. In fact, Plan Canada was founded in the Spanish Civil War, where we worked with children found in the streets who were orphaned by that very long civil war. Since then we've evolved into a global humanitarian organization focused on the rights of children in over 103,000 communities across those 80 countries around the world.
Our child-centred community development approach to the work we do is anchored in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, which directs our work in health, education, sanitation, sustainable livelihoods, water, and conflict. At Plan Canada, we make a minimum 10-year commitment to each of those 103,000 communities, so that we can very much focus on capacity building at that level.
We welcome the committee's decision to conduct this study. It is certainly due. Canada has an enormous opportunity to carve out a global leadership role in this important area that has been long neglected. We're also very pleased to see the formation of the new child protection and child marriage units in DFATD, and we welcome the openness to discussing how we can shape a policy and programming approach that will be globally first class.
There are two comments I'd like to make just before touching on child, early and forced marriage. One is on private sector partnerships and development.
I'd like to start by highlighting the network, as I'm also here representing the International Child Protection Network of Canada. One of the highlighted recommendations concerns the implementation of children's rights and business principles. Under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, Canada has a responsibility to see that its development partners, including the private sector, are respected and that they support children's rights and protection in their overseas operations. As Canada moves towards a greater emphasis on public-private partnerships for development, which we highly support, clear standards and expectations must be articulated in terms of how we do business overseas.
As part of a comprehensive due diligence process, we encourage the government to actively promote the necessary tools and resources to see that these business principles respecting children's rights are put into place. As a first step, this would include integrating the children's rights and business principles into the terms of reference, for example, for all DFATD private sector partners. We also recommend that we convene a workshop with all of the relevant partners to develop a common understanding of what the principles mean and how we can successfully implement them and work together with monitoring, evaluation, and accountability mechanisms. I'm certain it is an extraordinary tool. It is early days, and we think there is great opportunity for Canada on this.
The second small area that I'd like to touch on is the post-millennium development goals. The international development agenda has been framed by the millennium development goals for the last 14 and a half years. Child protection was absent in the millennium development goals, yet persistent violations of children's rights and their protection hinders our overall development successes and the achievement of these goals in general. We all know this, and obviously the members of this committee are very committed to child protection.
The recent open working group identified 17 areas of focus for the post-millennium development goals agenda, none of which included child protection. While we would like to see a stand-alone child protection initiative in the post-2015 agenda, the network has made a series of specific recommendations which we'll submit following this hearing, including, for example, an indicator to track progress on the elimination of violence against children, and an indicator to track the increase in the number of safe and decent working opportunities for our young people.
Moving to child, early and forced marriage, I think we all know that this is one of the most egregious failures of child protection. We are looking for Canada's support for the inclusion of an explicit goal on gender equality which would include a specific target to end child, early and forced marriage within the past-2015 agenda.
On the issue of child, early and forced marriage, Plan Canada compiled a policy paper that articulates lessons from our programmatic experience in this area, which we'll submit for consideration to the committee.
Not surprisingly, what we found is that one of the most effective ways to reduce child marriage is to increase girls' access to at least nine years of quality education. We know from our programmatic experience on the ground and from research, longitudinal data, that if we can get girls into secondary school, they're six times less likely to be married off as children when compared to girls who've completed primary education only.
But the schools we send these girls to have to be safe. They have to be safe from sexual and gender-based violence, including harassment from teachers and peers, so that parents can be convinced to send their children to school as a safer alternative than marriage, which is often their motivation. Our research, though, shows that violence against girls continues to be pervasive in the institution that all of us should be able to trust the most: their schools.
We're also pleased to see at the international level a very important piece, the UN action on the resolution, which I know you're all very familiar with. Plan Canada has worked very extensively over the last couple of years with the Canadian missions in New York and Geneva toward this resolution. A sound, reasonable resolution at the United Nations is an important tool for us all to work on to hold accountable the nation-states, member states, on progress toward eliminating child, early and forced marriage.
On the ground programmatically, because Plan Canada is a programmatically driven entity, we would call on the Government of Canada to take concrete action to end forced marriage by developing a robust programmatic initiative that challenges child, early and forced marriage at multiple levels simultaneously. This should include a dedicated new funding envelope for child, early and forced marriage similar to the START mechanism of the older Foreign Affairs, because it's important that we put together not just the advocacy and our voice at the global level, where Canada is considered a well-regarded champion, but that we match that with real action on the ground.
When I say multiple levels simultaneously, what I mean is working with those who would actively challenge and oppose child, early and forced marriage. Our experience shows that best practices across a range of countries include dialogue and action at the community and family household level—we can't come helicoptering in from afar. Best practices also include peer-to-peer participation, engaging young people in this, and I can share with you best practices in this in Bangladesh; engaging religious, traditional, and community leaders—the best practices in places like Mali; engaging men and boys, which you've already highlighted; and increasing awareness and enforcement of the law against child marriage where many parents don't know that they're breaking the law.
Also very important is that we don't leave behind the women and girls who are already married. We recommend that the government invest in projects to support young women and girls who've already been married off, including their re-entry into school, where often they're forbidden from attending once married; vocational opportunities; and access to maternal, newborn, and child health care, including sexual and reproductive health. We can't give up on or abandon those children who've already been married off, because they will quickly become child mothers of a new generation of children.
The next and second to last piece I would ask is that we look at systems strengthening. Broadly speaking, one of our most important lessons learned is that our responses to early forced marriage as well as all our child protection interventions have to be integrated and rooted within strong child-based community protection systems and national child protection mechanisms. It means that we have to be mindful of the many ways that a single child might be vulnerable so that one intervention doesn't actually set the child up for more vulnerability; for example, if we take action to protect a young girl at school only to see her abused on the way home. We may work with youth to convince parents to stop a marriage, but if we fail to work with the traditional and religious leaders, that girl could face violent or serious social repercussions that would set us back further; so one step forward, two steps backward.
Canada is one of the first countries, one of the first donors, to actually take a system-strengthening approach to child protection. What I mean by that is it is looking at the broad social welfare framework, recognizing that poverty and social exclusion operate on a myriad of levels and that there are a range of complex contributing factors to child early forced marriage like violence, natural disasters, war and conflict, trafficking, harmful traditional practices. It's a systems approach, as we all know.
From a policy perspective, I recognize it's challenging. One donor can't do everything. One member state can't do everything. What we can do is see that at least a systems analysis is undertaken before we start making investments, before we start jumping in with well-intentioned interventions to look at where the gaps are, whom we need to partner with, who are the decision-makers and influencers, and how we coordinate action. That will increase the overall capacity of the system to protect children and youth.
Finally, I want to highlight gender equality and gender-based violence. If we want our interventions to be effective, if we want our investments to get a good return, we have to be mindful of the underlying causes of gender inequality or how gender beliefs and practices manifest in so many ways in a young girl's life. We may work with girls themselves to build knowledge of their rights, but without economic alternatives for them, they're unlikely to be able to delay entering into a forced marriage. Once Canada was a leader on gender equality recognized around the world. It's time for us to take that leadership back. There's so much history and experience in DFATD on this. Integrating gender equality across all our interventions and supporting those issues addressing girls' vulnerability will build an internationally recognized reputation for Canada, without question.
As part of that, I want to draw your attention to Plan's recommendations in its report, “A girl's right to learn without fear”. There are practical steps that Canada and governments can take to address the issue of gender-based violence in and around schools. It is pervasive and universal. The abduction of the Nigerian girls while heinous was just an extreme example of what 500 million to 1.5 billion children go through on a daily basis, violations of their rights to protection, education, and their very survival.
So, an international UN resolution investing on the ground in smart programming.... Don't forget the children who are already married off. Focus on system strengthening. Then there's that cross-cutting need for attention on gender equality and gender-based violence. It is multiple and it needs to happen simultaneously. There isn't a hierarchy of sequencing we can suggest because while violence against children is unjustifiable, it's also preventable.
I encourage you to look at the solutions proposed in the report. What I hope is that we can carve out a role for Canada where child protection is one of our foreign policy priorities. There are a lot of children around the world waiting for Canada's leadership.
Thank you.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Dean Allison
Thank you very much, Mrs. McCarney.
Jackie Wright, we're going to turn it over to you for 10 minutes, please.
Jacquelyn Wright Vice-President, International Programs, CARE Canada
I would like to thank you for the invitation to appear before you and submit my testimony on behalf of CARE Canada. I do send regrets from Gillian Barth, our president and CEO, who's attending our board meeting as we speak.
As many of you know, CARE Canada is a member of the global CARE federation. CARE, like Plan, has been around for 75 or more years, hailing back to the Second World War with the care package we all think of back then. Of course, we've evolved tremendously since then, and we are present in more than 80 countries. Our approach to development and humanitarian assistance is based on the empowerment of women and girls. Because of our expertise in this area we are a major partner in the Muskoka initiative aimed at improving maternal, newborn and child health. We have also been the recipient of START funding for programming on child, early and forced marriage, particularly in Ghana and Ethiopia.
The issue this committee is studying today, the protection of children and the prevention of human trafficking, early and forced marriage, the sex trade, female genital mutilation, and the online abuse of children, is one that is very much aligned with our mission. Based on CARE's experience in developing countries, whether through long-term programming or emergency relief, I can certainly speak about the challenges we face as we tackle these issues, with the exception of online abuse.
The first thing I should mention is that in all the countries where we work, we see that girls and women are disproportionately affected by poverty and discrimination. This poverty comes from a chronic scarcity of basic necessities: clean water, food, and protection from deadly diseases such as malaria or dengue fever. The scramble to survive on limited resources inevitably creates a pecking order, the bottom of which is almost always occupied by young girls.
Once you are considered expendable, the road from being pulled out of school to help with chores, to going to bed hungry during lean seasons or times of crisis, to becoming a victim of gender-based violence can be surprisingly short.
“Gender-based violence” is a bit of a jargon term. What does it mean? It usually means that young girls and women are being intimidated and abused, often sexually, because they are perceived as weaker, too often because nobody is there to defend them and they just don't have the knowledge and means to defend themselves. Vulnerability leads to marginalization and isolation, making it even more difficult for agencies such as ours to reach and help these girls.
Lack of education for girls contributes to early marriage, higher birth rates, and deliveries with complications that can lead to death or permanent disabilities because the body of a 12-year-old is not ready to conceive and give birth, and an 18-year-old should not be raising three or four kids, certainly not without an education, an income, and a safe place to live.
Many of these girls—we can't really call them mothers when it was never their decision to bear children before becoming adults—do not live within proximity of a health facility. If they do, they are often discouraged by their husband from seeking medical care in a clinic because of lack of money to pay for the services or the cost of transportation to get there.
Having had no access to prenatal care, they will often give birth alone, without a trained birth attendant. If there are complications with the delivery, nobody will be there to provide emergency assistance. This means that a young girl will die from hemorrhage without even knowing what is happening to her. Quite apart from the searing pain, can you imagine the dread of feeling the life slip away from you as you are trying to give life?
Because their bodies are still so small, many of the young girls who do live through difficult deliveries will suffer from something called fistula. Without going into all the medical details, this condition is a tear of the tissue around the pelvic bone, and it occurs when labour is obstructed for several days. It renders girls permanently incontinent, which only increases their level of isolation and vulnerability.
In a conflict setting, like we have seen in South Sudan right now, the threat and damage done by gender-based violence grows exponentially. For a concise yet very informative review of the situation there, I invite you to read our report, “The Girl Has No Rights: Gender-Based Violence in South Sudan”. I have submitted a copy with my testimony.
We know that child, early and forced marriage is especially pernicious because it pushes young girls farther and farther beyond the reach of those who would help them. If they are shunned by their community, what happens to their children? Who takes care of them? Who takes on the responsibility of protecting them from abuse, exploitation, and neglect?
What are we at CARE doing to counter the effects of child, early and forced marriage? In my introduction I mentioned that CARE was the recipient of START funding for projects in Ghana and Ethiopia. Last year we were successful in receiving funding but unfortunately, by the time we received the funding there were only four months left to program. While we were able to achieve some results, the time period was detrimental.
Our initiative in Ghana's upper west district was one of awareness raising and education. With our civil society partner we organized workshops with local authorities and traditional leaders to sensitize them to the harms associated with child, early and forced marriage. We also created girls' clubs in schools where we trained girls in leadership skills, so they could share knowledge and caution peers and their families. We put on a five-day camp where 80 young girls received more extensive training in the hope that they will become champions of marriage after the legal age, which in Ghana is 18.
In Ethiopia we used our flagship Village Savings and Loan Association, or VSLA, programming to empower girls who are already married by showing them the basics of saving and financial planning. This created a platform for us to interact with them and provide them with tools that will help them become more self-sufficient.
While all these interventions are inspiring and indeed showing results, the prevalence of child, early and forced marriage across so many communities remains highly problematic. Child, early and forced marriage is a practice that is cultural, generational, but also motivated by economic circumstances, as I alluded to earlier. Reversing something that is so ingrained in the fabric of a community is not done in four months, and it's not done even in four years.
By way of comparison, let's look at a customary practice here in Canada. Do you remember back in the 1960s and 1970s when most people drove around without wearing a seatbelt? It may not surprise you that Ontario was the first province to enact mandatory seatbelt use back in 1976, but that was after much lobbying by road safety advocates, public awareness campaigns, and of course, an incremental march toward a political will to legislate. It did not happen overnight even here in Canada. In fact, in other parts of the country, it took many years to convince the public.
Going back to Ghana and Ethiopia or many of these countries, the belief that a man can take a young girl as his wife is much more intimate than the belief that we can't wear our seatbelts. We cannot expect too quickly or easily to reverse thinking and practices that have been passed down and encouraged for generations, especially when they are also perceived as essential to a family's economic sustainability.
When we are able to change hearts and minds, and authorities become willing to enforce the laws that are on the books, what happens to these girls? They may be rescued from an early marriage, but who will take them in? Often the families do not want them and there are no shelters for them, no referral services, no child welfare agencies with trained staff that will provide a safe place to stay and help them get an education. Short-term funding does not allow for any of this. It may allow us to say we are addressing the problem, but it does not give us the right to think that we are. If we are going to see results, real comprehensive results, we need to make this a long-term development priority. That means that child, early and forced marriage must be at or very near the top of the pile on the desk of Minister Paradis.
If we are serious about this issue and want Canada to have an impact, it will take a sustained and concerted effort. A number of NGOs have expertise in this area and best practices do exist. What we need now is focus, patience, and the funding to back up the commitment. As we develop the post-2015 sustainable development goals, we need to focus on substantive solutions that strengthen child protection systems, provide vocational training, and promote economic empowerment. In crafting these solutions, our approach must be inclusive. This means working with men and boys as well as women and girls, and it also means going beyond prevention efforts and addressing the plight of girls who have already been married.
I will stop there.
Thank you very much, and I look forward to your questions.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Dean Allison
Thank you very much, Ms. Wright.
We'll go over to the teleconference now. Ms. McWilliam, you have the floor.