Foreign Affairs Committee on June 9th, 2016

[Mylène Paradis]

Actually, Lawyers Without Borders Canada received new funding from the stabilization and reconstruction task force, or START, for a project that is definitely about women and that has led to prosecution in the Sepur Zarco case. You will surely recall seeing those two soldiers who were accused of using women as sex slaves during the armed conflict. Lawyers Without Borders Canada has done a lot of work with local lawyers so that those women can testify in court. Their funding ended in March 2016 as START came to an end. Now, with the renewal, we will see if they can regain the funding so that they can continue to do their excellent work in Guatemala.

I know that they receive funding as part of the development program that sends volunteers into the field. So young lawyers from our Canadian universities are taking part in placements in Guatemala and working in legal offices there.

On the subject of Lawyers Without Borders Canada, I would like to mention that, when you are there, people say that they have played a key role in everything going on in Guatemala.

Perhaps it was actually just a matter of being in the right place at the right time, but they arrived when there were few resources to support the victims of the conflict. So they set up an office of specialized litigation lawyers. They identified a person who was working on hundreds of cases alone in her office. They trained this person to develop a network around her. That office is successful. It is precisely because of them that the Rios Montt trial was able to begin.

Unfortunately, it was interrupted, but that is not because of a lack of funding for Lawyers Without Borders Canada. Mr. Montt’s lawyers played with the system a little and succeeded in putting his case on ice. We understand that he may be suffering from dementia. So it is difficult to bring him into court. He is very, very old now. He is over 90.

Support from START for Lawyers Without Borders Canada led to cases that in turn led to historic decisions in Guatemala. There was the Sepur Zarco case involving the military, but there was also the Dos Erres case, where soldiers were accused of completely razing a village and killing 181 people. Those soldiers were charged and sentenced to hundreds of years in prison, thanks in part to the work done by our people in the field.

[The Chair, Liberal, Bob Nault]

Mr. Levitt, go ahead, please.

[Michael Levitt, Liberal, York Centre, ON]

I'm wondering if you can give us some perspective on the leveraging of development assistance in trying to achieve better outcomes for human rights. We've been dealing in this committee and also the subcommittee on international human rights with Venezuela and Honduras, and of course Colombia and Guatemala are on the agenda for our intervention.

Given the history of horrible violence particularly in Guatemala, which has one of the highest murder rates in the world, how do we go about bringing human rights and development together? Then, if we have time, I want to ask a follow-up question on Honduras and the murder of Berta Cáceres.

[Isabelle Bérard]

I did mention the last time that I appeared that we do, of course, pay a lot of attention to human rights. Through our development programming and other programs that are being implemented by Global Affairs Canada, we are always very mindful of the human rights perspective. As a matter of fact, it is part of the Official Development Assistance Accountability Act. It's an element that we need to address when we assess and plan for those initiatives being supported through the international assistance envelope.

You do address those issues through various means. You're addressing the root cause of poverty, so you're either providing help to communities to develop economically and providing health and education services so people feel they have opportunities to grow. Of course, we do offer capacity building to government institutions so they can better meet the needs of their population. Through other programs such as START and anti-crime capacity building, we do work with investigation commissions in the justice sector to make sure that whenever there are issues, these can be addressed.

In Colombia, for example, we co-chair a group on human rights. We're co-chairing with UN Women, and this is a group that actually has managed to get two women involved in the peace process, which wasn't the case. No women had been identified to participate in the peace process negotiation, so we feel that this is essential.

For Guatemala, we are supporting CICIG. Maybe Mylène can say something more.

[Mylène Paradis]

Yes, there is also a group of donors, and Canada always raises human rights in the context of this group of donors, so it's basically a cross-cutting theme.

[Isabelle Bérard]

It's a combination of the actions of our people on the ground, our ambassadors and our team on the ground, who are having policy dialogue with the government, and through initiatives such as bilateral programs, partnership programs, anti-crime capacity, START, etc.

[Michael Levitt, Liberal, York Centre, ON]

One issue that comes up with regard to the issue of human rights, whether for women, or in the case of Berta Cáceres, a human rights defender, and again we're broadening it to the kind of Latin American theatre here, is accountability and our ability to kind of hold these countries accountable. It's in the rules, but are we able to do that, obviously taking into account that we want to continue getting development assistance in there? Are we finding a way to have our voice heard on these issues when they come up, and is it effective? I guess that's the better part of the question.

[Isabelle Bérard]

Certainly, in Colombia we're dealing with a more sophisticated government, so we're having conversations with the government. They do feel accountable towards their populations, so it is probably less of an issue than it would be for countries like Guatemala, where it is more of a challenge. Again, we are working with CICIG to make sure that civil society is involved and that we do allow populations to be educated and have healthy lives, which essentially allows people to exercise their rights.

[Michael Levitt, Liberal, York Centre, ON]

Mr. Chair, do I have any more time? Am I okay?

[The Chair, Liberal, Bob Nault]

You have 50 seconds.

[Michael Levitt, Liberal, York Centre, ON]

Sorry.

[Sylvia Cesaratto]

I was going to add that, in addition to that type of support is the strengthening of institutions and capacity building that we do on the justice side and on the policing side as well.

To answer your question with respect Berta Cáceres, for example, programs are being put into place in Central America, where we're working to increase the capacity of the police in terms of their investigative techniques. We are working with the public defender and the attorney general, say, to prosecute these crimes. We are defending human rights defenders' rights but also strengthening the justice and policing sector at the same time.

To speak to Isabelle's point, it's an integrated approach.

[The Chair, Liberal, Bob Nault]

Thank you, Mr. Levitt.

Mr. Miller, go ahead, please.

[Marc Miller, Liberal, Ville-Marie—Le Sud-Ouest—Île-des-Soeurs, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

My thanks to the witnesses for their presentations.

I would like to quickly touch on the role that women play in the process of development aid. We have just finished a report on peace and security. We talk about the important role that women play and should play from now on in the process of peace and security.

I would like to focus—as you mentioned, Ms. Paradis—on the specific process of development aid. I find it strange that we do not give more money to Guatemala, which is not one of our target countries today. We should be giving more, but it should have a specific target, the role that women could play in this process.

Could you talk about that aspect, perhaps using the role they have played in Colombia as a model?

[Isabelle Bérard]

That is very interesting. A peace accord was signed 20 years ago in Guatemala and one is just about to be signed in Colombia. In any case, we are crossing our fingers and hoping that it will be signed.

If we look at the resolutions that have been adopted in multilateral discussions, the well-known resolutions on women, peace and security, that is, we see that these multilateral discussions are based on experiences in different peace processes, like those in Guatemala and Colombia. It is absolutely certain that particular attention was given to women's participation in the peace process in Colombia. There is a committee to address the issue.

Our team at the embassy jointly chairs a human rights committee and a committee on the equality of men and women. The group is extremely active. It brings together donors too.

As for women's participation in a peace process, we are much more frequently in a dialogue with the governments in the countries in which we are involved. That is what makes the difference. Subsequently, funding can be provided to support women's participation. However, things have to be put in motion first. That lesson was learned from the experiences that are codified in the United Nations resolutions on women, peace and security.

Do you want to add anything else, Ms. Paradis?

[Mylène Paradis]

I would like to mention one thing about this. If you look at Guatemala, you may say that it is not a priority country because it receives less development aid. Guatemala is, I believe, one of the only countries that receives aid, in addition to development aid, from our two other justice and security programs. These are the stabilization and reconstruction task force and the anti-crime capacity building program. Very few countries receive assistance from the department's various programs.

There is also the multilateral component. Guatemala receives a lot of money from multilateral partnerships. I think we have to look at all of Canada's programs in the country.

I feel that the focus is more and more on the participation of women. This is becoming a real priority for our entire department, both for Minister Bibeau and for Minister Dion. All the talk is about the importance of reaching women and girls. I think that resonates a great deal in countries like Guatemala and Colombia. We are doing it already, but my instinct tells me that we will be doing even more of it in the future.

[Marc Miller, Liberal, Ville-Marie—Le Sud-Ouest—Île-des-Soeurs, QC]

I would like to clarify what I said.

Our analysis on poverty shows that women are disproportionately affected by this. Given the rate of around 60% in Guatemala, women are either at the front when it comes to leadership, or suffering the consequences of it. I think it's obvious.

I believe I still have a minute or two. You can address this aspect, or I can let another committee member take the floor.

Ms. Paradis, do you have anything to say about that?

[Mylène Paradis]

No, that's fine.

[Isabelle Bérard]

To expand a little on what Ms. Paradis said, if I understand correctly, Minister Bibeau appeared before the committee or had discussions with you. Clearly, the review that was started recently puts women and children at the heart of the consultation. We are reviewing our approach, ultimately.

Canada has always been recognized for paying particular attention to women's issues. As Ms. Paradis said, we can hope or believe that, fundamentally, we are on a positive path with this.

[The Chair, Liberal, Bob Nault]

Thank you.

Mr. Genuis, go ahead, please.

[Garnett Genuis, Conservative, Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB]

Thank you very much.

Thank you to the witnesses.

I have a few questions on different parts of this. As we prepare to do our report on the women, peace, and security study, one of the questions we're going to have to answer is about looking at possibly supporting larger multilateral actors and then also responding to what we heard from witnesses about the need for core funding for small local on-the-ground organizations that are doing important work.

It's not that it's impossible to do both, but obviously, there has to be some determination of, let's say, the mix of support. I'm curious to hear your thoughts in the context of the countries we've talked about and your experience there. How do we weigh these different ways of being involved in the women, peace, and security agenda providing support to the major multilateral actors versus trying to identify local organizations on the ground? Also, in terms of the local organizations, there's the question of core funding versus project-based funding.

[Isabelle Bérard]

May I ask for a clarification? When you say core funding to organizations, do you mean NGOs or multilateral organizations?

[Garnett Genuis, Conservative, Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB]

In that second part, I was thinking that we heard there are many small organizations on the ground that are doing important work, but they may not have the size or scale to access major project-based funding and what they really need is just funding to keep the doors open. I'm thinking specifically at the level of local organizations, core versus project.

[Isabelle Bérard]

Okay, thank you very much for the clarification.

When I appeared last time, I did mention that depending on the category of country in which we are involved, the mix of tools we're using is slightly different. Of course in a country like Colombia, which is a middle-income country, whereas a country like Guatemala is poorer, you actually have to reach a balance, and that balance may differ from one country to the next. It is very much on a case-by-case basis.

For initiatives specific to the peace process, once a peace agreement is signed, we can expect to be using the United Nations quite a lot, certainly at the very beginning because they actually have a very strong network across the country, a network that we don't have. Of course, for security reasons, a number of organizations couldn't actually establish themselves. This being said, over time, we will be in a position to support organizations that will then be able to reach out.

In the case of Guatemala, we do work with a number of multilateral organizations. I'm thinking of UNFPA. On maternal and child health, we've done quite a lot over the last couple of years and we've also worked through the multilateral sector. It's very much a mix. If you look at the maps I've provided you, you will actually see the bilateral program. What we call global issues and development are with the multilateral organizations, and then partnerships for development and innovation are mostly initiatives with Canadian organizations, NGOs.

In both cases, we do have a mixture of tools to address the issue, be they related to a peace process or to meeting the needs of the population. You need to have various kinds of tools.

As for core funding to small organizations, usually local organizations if you're talking about local NGOs, we do have Canadian funds for small local initiatives and we do have small programs to support these organizations, but then it is very much a matter of reaching a balance between accountability and supporting those organizations. In some instances, we do have to do our due diligence. It's about reaching that balance.

[Garnett Genuis, Conservative, Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB]

This is a conundrum we've reflected on before, so I appreciate that.

I'm getting a sense that you just have to look at which tools work best in the given situation in terms of who has the capacity.

I want to jump to something different. On the issue of the countries-of-focus study, we've had different perspectives presented before the committee about the concept of focus. Some people think it's a myth that we should be focused on specific countries, that we should just be open to wherever. Others see the value of having these long-term relationships and focus in terms of our expertise.

In terms of the experience in these two countries, what does that tell us more broadly about the concept of focus? Do you think these countries have benefited in a particular way from having the kind of commitment and certainty and volume that comes with being identified either as a country of focus or as a partner country?