Foreign Affairs Committee on March 7th, 2023

[Garnett Genuis, Conservative, Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB]

—rather than cutting off a witness who has a different perspective early.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ali Ehsassi]

You can rest assured of that, Mr. Genuis.

[Garnett Genuis, Conservative, Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB]

I'm not so sure.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ali Ehsassi]

Excuse me? You're not so sure.

[Dr. Theresa Okafor]

Mr. Chair, may I be allowed to conclude?

[The Chair, Liberal, Ali Ehsassi]

Yes, you can conclude, but I would ask that you conclude in the next 20 to 30 seconds, please, so that we have some time left for questions.

Thank you.

[Dr. Theresa Okafor]

Another unmet need is the hygienic birthing environment to prevent infection, which contributes 9.7% to the deaths in Africa. Africa needs emergency obstetrics care and adequate nutrition and to manage eclampsia, obstructed labour and anaemia.

The overflow of condoms and contraception are evidence of sexual and socio-cultural colonialism. Many Africans are aware that sexual and reproductive health and rights are a proverbial “cockroach in the ice cream” of aid in kind to Africa. Can there be a shift from a deficit model that thinks that Africa exists because problems exist to a model that conceptualizes the African woman as a person and a protagonist in the story of development and one that has the moral capacity to change her life through the choices she makes?

Thank you so much.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ali Ehsassi]

Thank you, Ms. Okafor.

We now go to questions from the members. The first question goes to Ms. Shelby Kramp-Neuman.

You have three minutes.

[Shelby Kramp-Neuman, Conservative, Hastings—Lennox and Addington, ON]

Thank you.

I'd like to start by acknowledging and thanking all of our witnesses for not being with us in person but being with us virtually. Championing the cause of sexual and reproductive health and the rights of women is definitely imperative, and welcoming ideas and ensuring that the rights and voices are respected is extremely critical.

I'd like to start by suggesting that in sub-Saharan Africa, many adolescents lack knowledge about menstruation and sexually transmitted diseases. To best educate our adolescents on sexual reproductive health is key. I understand that HIV is widespread. Knowledge of HIV is widespread but knowledge of others things with regard more specifically to menstruation and sexually transmitted infections is not. In order to gain insight on how we can best help these adolescents make informed decisions to lead to more positive experiences and to protect them from risk, I think education is the key.

My first question is for Ms. Okafor. Our previous witness mentioned that a focus on clinics and education is the best use of external dollars. Could you speak to how we can best fund the reproductive health rights of women through health care and education funding?

Thank you.

[Dr. Theresa Okafor]

Thank you for your question.

I'll reiterate the point that I made that the most important health care we need is health care that can prevent maternal mortality. The kind of education our youth need is education on values, education that can cultivate human values, moral values that can lift the intellectual toll of society. We don't want imposed values that actually prioritize sexuality in our continent.

Our continent can only be uplifted from poverty when priority is given to the areas that need to be prioritized, and these areas have to do with employability, employment in a labour market that is saturated with young people looking for jobs. We need information on how to make education an equal playing field for everyone regardless of the circumstances of their birth.

We need what can help mothers and children, who are key and central to everything that takes a nation to develop. They're the building blocks of a nation. We need what can help them develop and not necessarily prioritizing sex all the time, because I see that there is an obsession with sexualizing our continent. That is the problem we're having at the United Nations. When arguments should be focused on good governance, employability, quality education, food and clean water, and adequate nutrition, they're often derailed and sidetracked by other discussions that are undermining the continent.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ali Ehsassi]

Thank you.

We next go to MP Bendayan for three minutes.

[Rachel Bendayan, Liberal, Outremont, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Ms. Théroux‑Séguin, I'd like to begin by thanking you for the work you do with your organization, which has been active in Montreal since 1958.

Several witnesses have said that restricting access to abortion does not bring down the number of abortions. I'd like to hear your perspective on this. Do you have any statistics or additional information you can provide to the committee in writing, either now or later?

[Julie Théroux-Séguin]

The data I submitted to you came from the World Health Organization, so it's in the public domain. It shows that globally, unsafe abortions cause about 30% of all maternal deaths and that the numbers are higher in some regions. I can give you information on that.

[Rachel Bendayan, Liberal, Outremont, QC]

More specifically, we would appreciate if you could send us the data you have that demonstrates that restricting access to abortion doesn't result in fewer abortions.

[Julie Théroux-Séguin]

Restricting access to abortion doesn't bring down the number of abortions, it makes the abortions that are performed more unsafe. So restricting access puts women's lives at greater risk. It's a documented fact.

[Rachel Bendayan, Liberal, Outremont, QC]

Thank you very much, Ms. Théroux‑Séguin.

Ms. Kacpura, I would like to address a question to you, with the time I have remaining.

Do you believe that women's sexual and reproductive rights, including the right to abortion, are human rights?

[Krystyna Kacpura]

Thank you for this question.

Of course. We strongly believe that these are basic human rights.

[Rachel Bendayan, Liberal, Outremont, QC]

You spent some time detailing the 2020 Constitutional Tribunal ruling in Poland and described it as effectively creating a near total ban on legal abortions in Poland. You also mentioned that women die as a result of this ruling.

I wonder if you could expand a little on the principle of non-retrogression, which you also mentioned in your introduction. In its purest form, I understand this principle to mean that a government—

[The Chair, Liberal, Ali Ehsassi]

Ms. Bendayan, you're over your time.

We can provide her with 20 or 30 seconds to respond.

[Rachel Bendayan, Liberal, Outremont, QC]

Perhaps respond on the principle of non-retrogression, Ms. Kacpura.

[Krystyna Kacpura]

It's difficult to say that this is retrogression because these restrictive laws have lasted for over 30 years. We've managed somehow. Yearly, we have over 120,000 abortions, which are mostly done at home with pills. Some of them are done in our neighbouring countries in the EU.

We are a democratic country in the centre of Europe, so it's not difficult to get access to safe abortion services, but you have to know the language, you have to live in a big city and you have to have access to the Internet. You have to have money for this.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ali Ehsassi]

Thank you, Ms. Kacpura. I'm sorry. You're considerably out of time.

We next go to Ms. Larouche.

You have three minutes.

[Andréanne Larouche, Bloc, Shefford, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I'd like to thank the witnesses for being here today, on March 7. I am repeating the date because tomorrow, March 8, is International Women's Day, and the majority of the witnesses have clearly demonstrated that women's sexual and reproductive health rights are in decline around the world.

That strikes me. We can no longer call ourselves feminists and contribute to a rollback of these rights. We can't keep standing still either. We must move forward and work to continuously reinforce these rights. Let's keep that in mind tomorrow, March 8, as we celebrate that day. I feel it's imperative.

Ms. Théroux‑Séguin, I will address you first. I join my predecessor in congratulating you on the international cooperation work you've done for such a long time.

In 2019, the Liberal government had announced that, as of 2023, it would increase its funding to support women's and girls' health around the world to $1.4 billion per year for 10 years. That represents an annual investment of $723 million to support sexual and reproductive health rights.

Is $700 million enough? If not, what would the ideal amount be, in your and CECI's opinion?

[Julie Théroux-Séguin]

Recently at International Development Week, we were able to show that funding for international development is not at its highest level right now. Quite the contrary, it's at 0.32% of Canada's gross domestic product, while there is a call for this funding to be increased gradually to reach $10 billion by 2025.

The request concerns funding for all international aid, not just sexual and reproductive health. I believe several areas need to be funded. As I said earlier, in addition to sexual and reproductive health, women's organizations and the women's movement also need support. They are on the front lines of sexual and reproductive health education and awareness.

[Andréanne Larouche, Bloc, Shefford, QC]

They say that 97% of unsafe abortions occur in developing nations, and that abortions cause 4.7% to 13.2% of all maternal deaths worldwide. Those numbers are critical.

You stated that this needs to be treated not as a cultural issue, but as a public health issue. How could and should Canada, which prides itself on having a feminist international policy, act on this study and continue to work to improve sexual and reproductive health rights around the world?