Evidence of meeting #116 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 conflict.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Director General, Southern and Eastern Africa Bureau, Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development
The member makes a good point, which is we do have a role in determining sanctions. In terms of the six sanctions that were announced, several of them are organizations that are known for having logistical operations, links to gold, exports and financing networks for the RSF and the SAF.
Liberal
Liberal
Sophie Chatel Liberal Pontiac, QC
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
The United Nations is proposing a number of avenues and actions. It is trying to engage the international community, whether in terms of a ceasefire, access to humanitarian aid, negotiations or the protection of civilians. I think it has suggested that the African Union and the Intergovernmental Authority on Development, among others, should play a role and be more involved. There's also, of course, the matter of supporting a democratic transition.
Can you tell us more about the concrete measures the UN is taking to restore peace? The situation is clearly catastrophic. Agencies can deliver humanitarian aid and try to protect civilians from the heinous crimes being committed, but at the end of the day, peace must be restored in a sustainable way.
Can you tell us a little more about what the UN is doing in this regard and how Canada could support these measures?
Director General, Southern and Eastern Africa Bureau, Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development
This is a really good question and one of the biggest challenges with regards to how we and others engage in Sudan. The context there is one of the most difficult ones we're facing. This is perhaps why it's difficult to articulate solutions.
What we see here are two belligerents using food as a weapon of war. The room to navigate here is pretty limited. That doesn't mean there aren't things we can do or things we can support the UN in doing. There is significant advocacy undertaken by Canada and like-minded states in the UN calling on the two belligerents to adhere to human rights law and international humanitarian law. As we've seen, there have been negotiations, including putting pressure on the two sides to ensure humanitarian access and to do things like open the border with Chad, which is a staging ground for the humanitarian response.
As we have discussed, funding is a huge part of this. Certainly, Canada, in terms of our announcement of $100 million in funding this year to the humanitarian response, is providing a portion of that response.
Then, of course, on our side, we are ensuring that response is as inclusive as it possibly can be in terms of reaching the poorest and most vulnerable, and we are calling out the belligerents for the actions they are undertaking and the degree to which they're using food as a weapon of war and restricting access to humanitarian assistance for their own interests and military gain.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Ali Ehsassi
That's your time, MP Chatel.
That concludes questions from members. I would like to ask a couple of follow-up questions.
First, thank you very much, Ms. Delany, for undertaking to follow up in writing on a few of the questions that the members asked.
It is very disappointing to hear that no Sudanese have come here despite the fact that there is a family reunification program. I was looking in The Globe and Mail in February 2024, and there was a headline that said, “Canada prepares to welcome thousands of Sudanese”, but we heard that none have arrived under the family reunification program. I appreciate full well this is not in your remit, but if we could have some follow-up information as to what the challenges have been for the immigration department, if you could kindly liaise with them, that would be very much welcome.
My second question is for any of the witnesses. We heard about a number of different issues. I understand that cholera is a big challenge in Sudan as well, but it did not come up in any of the responses. Is there anything that Canada can do on that particular front? Could someone tell me if there is any initiative afoot for Canada to respond to cholera in Sudan?
Director General, Southern and Eastern Africa Bureau, Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development
Absolutely. Mr. Chair, on the question of the humanitarian visa program, I didn't speak to it at all. I don't have any information on it, so I can't comment on it. We will engage with it and ensure that IRCC has an opportunity to engage on that issue.
You're right; we didn't bring up cholera. We also didn't bring up malaria. It's the rainy season in Sudan. There are increased cases of cholera and malaria as a result. We also, of course, know that it is the most vulnerable, in particular children, who are most affected by these diseases, and the degree to which health facilities and hospitals have been targeted in this conflict is significant. I think the numbers are quite staggering with regard to the destruction that has been seen.
It's one of the comments that I maybe didn't make as explicitly as I could have. What also marks this conflict as being a bit different from what we've seen in other places or in Sudan before is the really significant degree of intent of the belligerents to destroy infrastructure, and we've seen that in the health sector as well.
I'll check to see if Ms. Desloges has anything to add on the humanitarian side.
Acting Director, International Humanitarian Assistance, Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development
We can certainly add from the humanitarian perspective, because the challenges are so numerous. Cholera did not come up, but it is also on our minds. It is a major concern in the context of the displacement and the crowded areas that we see. The biggest needs to responding to cholera are water, sanitation and hygiene programming as well as health services. As Ms. Delaney said, the health infrastructure in Sudan has been severely damaged.
Through our ongoing funding, we do support the health sector via the International Committee of the Red Cross. We are also supporting water and sanitation programming, and one of the funds that we support in Sudan is the Sudan Humanitarian Fund that is managed by OCHA. It helps to pre-position funding for these kinds of outbreaks and emerging needs so that, when there's a cholera outbreak, they can work with local organizations, and they can work with international organizations to get funding out rapidly to address it. We have funding in place for this.
Ambassador for Women, Peace and Security, Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development
Very briefly, there are a lot of things we didn't have time to talk to. One that is extremely important and that is unique to this conflict is the extent to which online disinformation is playing a key role. This is one of the conflicts that I've seen that has both the most attempts at transparency by mediators of all types and also the greatest amount of disinformation, including hate speech, by a range of actors. I would not be surprised if many of the countries that we mentioned have connections today. There's a dramatic amount of online hate speech and disinformation that is set to disrupt talks, so getting out proactive information and clear information is extremely important.
This is the first round of talks that I know of that has been undertaken when there's generative artificial intelligence, for example, and we're already seeing fake videos, fabricated accounts of attacks, massacres, etc. I think as parliamentarians and as people watching this, we have to be exceptionally aware of the amount of disinformation that is circulating around this conflict and the complexity of managing it, primarily for the Sudanese people.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Ali Ehsassi
Thank you very much for that.
We're very grateful for this briefing. Ms. Delaney, Ms. Desloges and Ambassador O'Neill, I should say that we're all very grateful because, as you will recall, the last unanimous consent motion that we adopted the day we adjourned for the summer was on the situation in Sudan. I can assure you that this is of grave concern to every member of this committee. Thank you very much for all your efforts and for being here with us today.
Before we go in camera for committee business, I'll just suspend for three minutes to allow us to send out a link.
Thank you.
[Proceedings continue in camera]