Evidence of meeting #35 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 haitians.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Conservative
Ziad Aboultaif Conservative Edmonton Manning, AB
I'm asking about the take-away from this current situation and the Afghan mission as far as Canada's perspective is concerned.
Representative to Canada, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
Certainly Canada has come forward as a donor and contributed to the emergency relief efforts in Pakistan. Canada continues to be a humanitarian donor for the operation in Afghanistan. We treat those as two separate emergencies. They are very different in nature and also in terms of those who are impacted. Canada remains a donor to UNHCR and other UN agencies and humanitarian partners who are operating in both countries.
Conservative
Liberal
Randeep Sarai Liberal Surrey Centre, BC
Thank you.
I want to thank you both for all of your efforts in the flood-ridden areas of Pakistan.
My question is more with respect to women and girls. We know that in disaster-hit areas, women and girls are disproportionately affected and statistically more likely to die than their counterparts.
How many women and girls have been affected by the extreme flooding in Pakistan?
This is to either one of you.
Representative to Canada, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
My figures say that two-thirds of those impacted are women and children.
Liberal
Randeep Sarai Liberal Surrey Centre, BC
Is that in terms of deaths or in terms of disproportionately more injuries or malnourishment or other issues?
Representative to Canada, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
We anticipated that women and children would be disproportionately impacted. It's a cycle and a pattern we see repeated in other emergencies. For that reason, we took preventive measures at the outset to deploy female staff to areas so that they can hear directly from women about needs that may not be communicated through other channels.
We've also made sure that the facilities we've constructed for water and sanitation are gender-segregated to protect women and that we have lighting at water points. We are very well aware of the risks to women and children in these kinds of emergencies, as they are repeated elsewhere around the globe. As a matter of course, we take preventive measures at the outset in our response to ensure that we mitigate those risks to the extent possible.
Liberal
Randeep Sarai Liberal Surrey Centre, BC
Are you prioritizing that approach in other responses around the world?
Representative to Canada, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
Absolutely.
Liberal
Randeep Sarai Liberal Surrey Centre, BC
I want to go on to the Afghan refugees who are there. You've outlined how many are there. What support networks are they receiving? I mean, they are refugees already, and on top of that they're dealing with floods and other things.
Are they still being prioritized equally, or are they put behind in the humanitarian efforts to those who are of Pakistani origin?
November 2nd, 2022 / 6:15 p.m.
Representative to Canada, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
From the perspective of UNHCR, we are prioritizing both Pakistani nationals and refugees. Our agency is mandated to provide protection and support to refugees, so our response efforts have been concentrated in areas with high population numbers of refugees.
Because they've been there for over four decades, we know where they are and we have established networks and have been providing services and support for over 40 years. That has continued throughout this process.
Of course, the only thing that limits us is the amount of resources and funding available to respond to those needs, so the more we have, the more people we can assist.
Liberal
Randeep Sarai Liberal Surrey Centre, BC
Very quickly, earlier we heard from the Minister of International Development, who stated that it didn't get the limelight or “the attention” that it needed. Can you speak to that in terms of Pakistan? Did they get the attention that they deserved in this catastrophe?
Representative to Canada, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
I think initial indications were strong signs of solidarity and support, but with any emergency, the more protracted it becomes and the more crises you see globally, the harder it is to sustain that kind of attention. That's why we continue to issue these calls for support and solidarity, particularly with a country that has generously hosted a large refugee population for several decades.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Ali Ehsassi
Thank you, Mr. Sarai.
We now go to Mr. Bergeron for a minute and a half, sir.
Bloc
Stéphane Bergeron Bloc Montarville, QC
In its additional appeal for funding of the response to the floods in Pakistan, the UN Refugee Agency, the UNHCR, noted that Pakistan was emerging as a "climate hotspot". The UNHCR is "seeking to bolster prevention and preparedness measures to avert and minimize the effects of extreme weather events."
What kind of measures do you think should be taken to limit the effects of extreme weather events in a country like Pakistan?
What assistance can Canada provide to that end?
Representative to Canada, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
I think you're referring to the comments of Secretary-General António Guterres following his visit to the country in late September.
As I outlined in my remarks, really it's about doing business a little bit differently. It's about creating climate-resistant structures. It's about building back better.
The UN, the EU, the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank just a few days ago issued their initial post-disaster needs assessment. One of the main calls is to ensure that as we build back and we reconstruct—this is quite a substantial endeavour—we do so with climate-resistant technologies and with climate-resistant principles in mind.
As you heard from my colleague on the panel, we know this is going to happen again. These areas that were hit by floods only last year were suffering from mild to severe drought. We know that climate unpredictability and extreme weather events are going to continue, so part of our response—a substantial portion, I would say—has to include ensuring that whatever we build back is as climate-resistant as possible.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Ali Ehsassi
Thank you.
We now go to Ms. McPherson, please, for a minute and a half.
NDP
Heather McPherson NDP Edmonton Strathcona, AB
That's quite a short amount of time.
I would also like to ask Ms. Imseis from the UNHCR some questions. I'm sorry. I have probably pronounced your name incorrectly.
Knowing that climate financing is so vital and knowing that climate emergencies are increasing and that climate financing is increasingly going to be one of the key ways to respond with regard to development, with regard to humanitarian aid, there has been some criticism on the use of debt and equity financing as opposed to grant financing.
Can you comment on that, please?
Representative to Canada, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
Certainly we're moving in the direction of relying more and more on international financial institutions and development actors to help support these efforts. Immediate humanitarian needs are something my organization deals with, but when it becomes medium- to longer-term reconstruction and rehabilitation initiatives of this sort, we rely on actors such as the World Bank, the IMF and other institutions to come in. Questions on longer-term development models of financing, whether through loans or grants, are I think better answered by officials who work in this space.
Certainly in a situation of such colossal damage, we would certainly be in support of anything we can do to avoid further entrenching debt and poverty and more hardship as a country tries to emerge from a disaster like this.
NDP
Heather McPherson NDP Edmonton Strathcona, AB
Typically, those countries that do struggle, that are more vulnerable to climate emergencies, are countries that have a higher debt and struggle under debt repayment already. This complicates that situation even more.
One of the things that you picked up on that I think is very, very important—and I've said it many times here—is that development is a long-term game. It's having predictable funding. It is knowing the funding is there and having predictable partnerships and predictable funding that are so very vital to be effective.
Is that a correct statement from your perspective?
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Ali Ehsassi
I am afraid you're out of time, Ms. McPherson, and considerably so.
We now go to the last two questions.
Mr. Hoback, you have under three minutes, please.
Conservative
Randy Hoback Conservative Prince Albert, SK
Thank you, Chair. Could you let me know when I am in the last 30 seconds of my time?