I'll try also to answer that question by saying that Canada has long been in the Congo, especially in the east. Canada is a co-chair today of the international conference on the Great Lakes region. Through CIDA, Canada is still sending a lot of money to the east. So those are really tangible actions that Canada is doing in the Congo, but we would like to see more.
That is why I'm saying we are orphaned, because you've been putting in that money, but we can't see it. It can't be seen, because peace and security is a major situation. It's not the NGOs that will bring peace or the security—it needs the leadership of the government. And you, as Canada, I think you have to bring this government to an end. If you want to deal with them or have bilateral cooperations with them, they have to observe human rights. They have to observe this. Before you give them anything or have any cooperation with this government in place really, the conditions have to be that they have to respect human rights in the Congo. That is one thing.
The second thing is I know that you've been dealing with a lot of Congolese here—you send them to school here, you've been working with them—and there is still another possibility. Deal with these people and prepare them so that they can perhaps be another hand to help the government in place, or in the future—to see how they can lead this country. Because what is there—we don't know how to describe it. They don't respond as a government has to respond to its population. They don't care about the population. Those women we are talking about are sleeping in the street. No one is taking care of them. Recently they sent us a report; there are 800 children born from rape. The local community doesn’t want to hear about these children. The government doesn't do anything. So where are we going to end up, with these children?
So I think you have to put some conditions on any bilateral cooperation with the government in the Congo. They have to observe human rights.
The reparation we are talking about is…. As my colleague said, there are some Canadian companies in the Congo or around the region. What we are trying to do as an organization.... We don't want to point to them, we don't want to accuse them, but we know that according to Canadian law, these companies have to donate some funding to deal with the damage they've been causing in the community. This money belongs to the community, but because of the leadership that we have this money is going into the pockets of these leaders. So the Government of Canada.... These mining companies may deal with the local NGOs so that they can repay for some things, like building a rural hospital for these women, building some rural schools for these women. It may be one of their operations that this community is waiting for, from this mining company.
Thank you.