I share the concerns that have been raised by a number of my colleagues regarding the increase in torture and extrajudicial killings, and particularly the impact this kind of political disruption is having on women and children and families in Burundi, and the rise of sexual violence, in particular.
I just returned from Guatemala where Canadian development monies have been channelled very effectively into civil society groups that are on the ground, very directly assisting and empowering women, especially young women, and giving them some of the protections they need to withstand some of the challenges they face.
What can Canada be doing better in Burundi? Who can we be working with? Are there civil society groups on the ground that we have some relationship with through the local initiatives fund that we can be targeting to get assistance to these people, both within the country and also in some of the displacement camps in the surrounding regions where Burundians are fleeing?