Foreign Affairs Committee on March 3rd, 2022

[Anita Vandenbeld, Liberal, Ottawa West—Nepean, ON]

Thank you. I appreciate that.

The other piece of that is that we know that Canadian civil society and Canadian NGOs do exceptional work and have real relationships on the ground. They are the ones who are working with local partners. They understand very well what the needs are in various different regions around the world.

What are we doing in order to create and support those Canadian civil society organizations that are on the ground and that are doing the work, again to make sure that we're allowing for knowledge creation and sharing among organizations but also that we're supporting those civil society organizations so we do have a full, broad ecosystem of Canadian NGOs doing this work?

[Peter MacDougall]

I'll just make a brief comment and then perhaps ask Caroline if she wants to add about Canadian organizations.

Certainly, you're absolutely right that we work with many Canadian organizations on the ground in missions all around the world, because of their expertise. They've made significant contributions. In going forward with the centre I expect there will be some opportunity for further work with those organizations.

Perhaps I'll ask Caroline to add anything she has.

[Caroline Leclerc]

Thank you. That's absolutely true. We have a very vibrant set of networks of Canadian NGOs that have expertise, knowledge and resources that we work hard to bring to bear in international development.

The best way for us to help support them is through their networks. I believe the member knows very well Cooperation Canada. There is also a set of regional and provincial networks that bring NGOs together and that do a lot of knowledge exchange and capacity building. We contribute to these networks and work through them to support Canadian NGOs and ensure there is knowledge exchange, not only amongst them but, frankly, between them and us.

This work also happens in the field. Our missions will often bring their partners who are on the ground together to exchange on what they're hearing, what they're seeing and what the needs are, and to extract lessons learned from that. It's an ongoing process of knowledge exchange.

[Anita Vandenbeld, Liberal, Ottawa West—Nepean, ON]

Canada has really looked at different innovative ways in which to fund local organizations in the global south. I'm thinking about the equality fund and some of the work that's being done under FIAP—the feminist international assistance policy—to make sure it is not just our going into another country and saying, this is how to do it, but really building on the local knowledge and supporting those local, smaller NGOs in the global south to empower them.

Can you talk a little bit about those innovations, and particularly the equality fund?

[The Chair, Liberal, Sven Spengemann]

Just a brief answer, please, in the interest of time.

[Peter MacDougall]

Caroline was a key architect, so I'll ask her.

[Caroline Leclerc]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I hear you. It's hard for me to be brief when talking about the equality fund, but certainly it's an important and innovative platform in and of itself that brings together different sources of finance from the private sector, government and NGOs, to create a sustainable source of funds for women's organizations on the ground. The equality fund has supported to date, I think, 100 small women's organizations with untied money, like direct grants, to help advance their issues. We have a range of other programs that are similar, the women's voice and leadership program, for example, and a project with Equitas on LGBTQ2I rights.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sven Spengemann]

Thank you, Ms. Vandenbeld. I also thank the officials.

Colleagues, that takes us to the end of our scheduled session today. Collectively we thank Minister Sajjan and his team of senior officials for being with us this afternoon.

We are always happy to welcome you to the committee. I am grateful to you for taking part in this afternoon's session and for sharing your testimony with us.

Colleagues, with that, I wish you safe travels. Have productive constituency weeks.

We stand adjourned until our next meeting.