We all want to thank you so much for being here today. It means a great deal that we have the opportunity as MPs to hear from experts and practitioners in the field.
I want to ask a question about microcredit, the issuing of small loans, particularly to women in places such as Bangladesh, as pointed to by development scholars and organizations such as Oxfam, which I believe has talked about it positively in the past. I'm not sure about CARE Canada, but you're nodding, so that probably means yes.
My question is not only with respect to the Bangladesh experience, but beyond that. In particular, I wonder about the value of microcredit in post-conflict settings. It's this idea of giving women small loans so they can start their own businesses. They lack access to collateral that they can put up to show a bank that they have something. Banks tend not to give out loans in these kinds of situations where poverty is the issue. I don't have to expand on that; you know the issues that are at stake.
Specifically for post-conflict settings, what might the merits of microcredit be, in your view? That question is a general one for anyone who wants to take it.