Evidence of meeting #107 for Foreign Affairs and International Development in the 44th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was organizations.
A recording is available from Parliament.
6:40 p.m.
Liberal
Julie Dabrusin Liberal Toronto—Danforth, ON
I was hoping to ask Dr. Nickerson if he could submit anything about the nexus piece. I think that would be really helpful.
I was really quite taken when you were speaking. You were talking about the threats of sexual violence—
6:40 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Ali Ehsassi
Give me one second, please. I think we're having translation challenges.
Please proceed.
6:40 p.m.
Liberal
Julie Dabrusin Liberal Toronto—Danforth, ON
In the first part, I asked if the witness could submit materials and their point of view on the triple nexus, because I think that's important for the committee.
My second piece is that you talked about the number of women who have been subjected to sexual violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo. It was over 20,000. Is that correct? Yes.
When we're looking at developing policies in conflict zones—we have a feminist policy and approach—what can we do to better support women and make sure they're getting the aid and the support they need?
May 8th, 2024 / 6:40 p.m.
Humanitarian Representative to Canada, Doctors Without Borders
I would start by saying that continuing to fund comprehensive medical and psychosocial responses to sexual and gender-based violence is key.
Our role as a medical and humanitarian organization is to bring that very high level of care to the places where we work. We're able to provide a comprehensive package of medical interventions, psychological services and other things. I would say that one thing that needs to be considered is how there are protection issues in terms of preventing sexual and gender-based violence, which is something that requires much more attention.
We consistently run into challenges when our interventions come to an end. People still need access to safe shelter, legal supports and so on. Typically, in many places, those are best provided by local organizations. There are a number of local feminist organizations that run safe shelters, provide protection services and so on, so that people aren't then returning to a community where their perpetrator might live, for example.
I think this is one very clear area where local organizations bring something that the international, non-governmental organizations and humanitarian organizations just aren't particularly well adapted to implement. Local organizations simply have deeper connections with protection services, supports and so on.
6:40 p.m.
Liberal
6:40 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Ali Ehsassi
I'm sorry. You are out of time, Ms. Dabrusin. You have my apologies.
It now being 6:45, we will conclude this session.
Allow me to thank all of our witnesses and the organizations with which they work. They are doing really tremendous work in Africa, if not beyond.
Thank you very much, Dr. Nickerson, Madame Nogarède, Monsieur Allard and Ms. Addleton. We're very grateful for your time and expertise.