Thank you for that question. I certainly do find that a bit easier to respond to, although naturally it's a difficult question as well. I think Canada has undertaken a remarkable commitment to working in DRC, and I congratulate you on your efforts through CIDA.
One of the things we've seen in DRC that is not necessarily a reflection of Canada but of funding mechanisms in general is that NGOs, local organizations and even multilateral organizations, struggle with the fact that they're trying to undertake long-term sustained efforts but funding often comes in fits and starts and attention varies between different efforts at different times. Here, one of the challenges, for instance, in the demobilization and reintegration efforts was that funding would come in six-month cycles, but clearly, soldiers needed much longer-term services in order to be able to fully reintegrate into civilian life after spending decades sometimes in armed groups.
What I would say is that Canada can lead not only by example, but also by supporting a kind of sustained multi-donor mechanism that can create funding that is targeted to important questions that last for many years, instead of in short funding cycles that create disruption of services.
Another thing that I would say is unique to this setting is that Canada has the opportunity to create political pressure on the Congolese government to fulfill some of its promises, and to continue to push for political solutions to sustained problems.