Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Before starting our short presentation, I would like to inform the committee members that the presentation that was distributed to you is a little different than the one I'm going to make because I had instead understood that the committee wanted an update on the overall execution of Canada's Action Plan for the Implementation of United Nations Security Council Resolutions on Women, Peace and Security. So I adjusted my presentation a little a few minutes ago to focus on the connection with the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
I'd like to thank the chair for the opportunity to provide the subcommittee with an update on the implementation of Canada's action plan for the implementation of Security Council Resolution 1325 on women, peace, and security in relation to the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Canada has been a strong supporter of the international women, peace, and security agenda, including the fight against sexual violence. This is why, in October 2010, the government launched its national action plan for the full implementation of the UN Security Council resolution on women, peace, and security.
Canada's action plan is about being accountable and transparent in our work to implement the UN Security Council resolution, including those aspects that relate to serious human rights abuses such as the sexual violence that takes place in conflict and post-conflict situations. We make every effort to help strengthen the UN's capacity to address these types of crimes.
Canada's contribution towards the fight against sexual violence in conflict and post-conflict situations, including in the DRC, include our commitment to continue to support programming that addresses protection of women and girls in conflict, to continue our significant advocacy to further implementation of international norms and standards on this issue in multilateral fora, and to prepare our personnel to respond appropriately when they are faced with serious violations of human rights, including sexual violence.
The Canadian permanent mission to the UN chairs and coordinates the work of the Group of Friends of Women, Peace, and Security and the Group of Friends on Children and Armed Conflict. Through the global peace and security fund of my department, Canada is providing financial assistance to Canadian and international organizations to promote the implementation of the UN Security Council resolution on women, peace, and security, including the fight against sexual violence and armed conflict, and to build international capacity to prevent and respond to sexual violence, including in the DRC.
Through that fund—the GPSF—we have projects valued at over $6 million. I would like to mention one that deals with child protection and prevention of sexual and gender-based violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Through the global peace and security program, we are funding a project through World Vision, in partnership with the Pearson Peacekeeping Centre and the Centre for Foreign Policy Studies. The project addresses the issue of women, peace, and security by improving multi-sectoral responses to sexual and gender-based violence and the protection of children, through the reform and increased capacity of security sector forces and judicial institutions, including the military, the police, and civilian branches. It also enhances national and provincial capacities to manage the causes, manifestations, and impacts of the SGBV and ensures the protection of children.
The second project has to do with equipping the national police, the Police nationale congolaise, with multimedia training tools. With Canadian support, Search for Common Ground, an international NGO, is implementing a project to equip the Police nationale congolaise with multimedia training tools that will enable them to promote respect for human rights and to combat sexual and gender-based violence. These programs are focused on the role of military justice, which includes the police in the fight against sexual violence, and in the protection and security of people.
Also, through the global peace and security funding envelope, Foreign Affairs is currently supporting three projects where sexual and gender-based violence is a crosscutting theme. I would mention
prosecution and military support cells, as well as the support for judicial and correctional institutions in the eastern provinces.
We are also supporting MONUSCO to enhance the ability of civilian branches of the Congolese government and civil society actors to implement and monitor national legislation related to civilian protection. In eastern DRC conflicts, human rights abuses are fueled by the illegal exploitation of and trade in natural resources. Benefiting from the surrounding instability, armed groups illegally control mining areas, tax miners, and traffic in minerals. These revenues are used as a source of funding to gain further control of territory.
Since 2009 the stabilization and reconstruction task force of Foreign Affairs, or START, has contributed $3.7 million to prevent the illegal exploitation of natural resources in the DRC and the Great Lakes region. START supports the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region in implementing the regional certification mechanisms.
We support draft guidance to help companies avoid financing conflict and human rights abuses. We have contributed to the construction of pilot negotiation centres—in French, centre de négoces—in the DRC to legitimize the mineral trade and also to allow governments to collect taxes more easily. Finally, we have taken steps to formalize the artisanal diamond sector throughout the DRC.
In concluding, Mr. Chairman, I would like to say that we are looking forward to the first annual report on the implementation of the national action plan. We think it should be ready in September.
I thank you, Mr. Chairman.