I would begin by encouraging the Canadian government to think of faith-based organizations as partners in advancing the women, peace, and security agenda.
Certainly, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, in South Sudan, the churches are present in every corner of the country, some corners in which the government itself is not present. If we are talking about how to reach all of the citizens, faith-based institutions are a powerful partner. Likewise in Canada, our presence in so many communities, I think, can also animate this conversation with Canadians.
The example I might provide is our partner in South Sudan. The South Sudan Council of Churches is working very hard to unite women across tribal lines. It is a predominantly Christian country, so their churches do represent the vast majority of the peoples. Their sessions, starting with simple prayers for peace, have been so powerful as a tool to open up conversations, both with women from one ethnic group that may be in a UN camp and those living outside the camp. When these two groups come together they learn to talk about peace. By bringing the women together, they return to their communities and then they talk to the men and the boys, so the women, peace, and security agenda is not an agenda that only involves women and girls, it involves all the participants of society.
I think churches, in some of these challenging contexts, have found novel ways of breaking down barriers and engaging people in conversations around peace and reconciliation that can be replicated in various contexts. That's an example in a predominantly Christian country, but organizations from other faith traditions could help in other contexts.