Welcome, colleagues, to the ninth meeting of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development .
Pursuant to the order of reference of October 22, 2020, the committee is resuming its study of vulnerabilities created and exacerbated by COVID-19 in crisis and conflict-affected areas.
To ensure an orderly meeting, I encourage all participants to mute their microphones when they're not speaking and to direct comments through the chair.
When you have 30 seconds remaining in your testimony or questioning time, I will signal with this yellow sheet of paper. Interpretation services are available through the globe icon at the bottom of your screen.
I would now like to welcome our first group of winesses.
We will be hearing from, as an individual, Ms. Valerie Percival, Assistant Professor of
Norman Paterson School of International Affairs, Carleton University.
We will also hear from Mr. François Audet, a professor at the Université du Québec à Montréal and Executive Director of the Canadian Research Institute on Humanitarian Crises and Aid, and from Mr. Thomas Bollyky, Senior Fellow for Global Health, Economics, and Development
Council on Foreign Relations (New York).
Professor Percival, I will start with you and will give you the floor for five minutes of opening remarks.