Thank you, Mr. Chair, and thank you to all of our witnesses who have come today. This has been a really important discussion on so many of the aspects that feed into the lack of safety of children in conflict areas and what's going on during COVID.
I previously, in my life before being an MP, worked with organizations dealing in trafficking, particularly in relation to women and girls. I do understand the realities and the complexities of trying to stop the human trafficking chain and also rescuing and rehabilitating victims of it. During the best of times it's really challenging and especially during a pandemic.
During the pandemic, we know that children are at home, but we also know that criminal networks are still out and about in these areas and involved in what they're trying to achieve. Has the exploitation industry changed in the past year in terms of the pandemic? Our Minister of International Development, Karina Gould, committed $1.6 billion towards the COVID response in January of this year. We know there's a shadow pandemic of gender-based violence and sexual exploitation. What should we be considering in terms of adapting our approaches to the COVID response in relation to gender-based violence and human trafficking?