Thank you. This is a very important question.
I think there are two important aspects. First, public diplomacy works in Colombia and is very important. When we released our report, we had a meeting with the President, but we also a response from high-level authorities who seemed to be interested in the issue. At the same time, we had phone calls from mid-level, well-intentioned officials who said, “This is very important because it empowers those of us who want to do things the right way.”
I think my first message is that public diplomacy and speaking out about concerns in the human rights situation is very important.
Second, there are some government institutions that are doing a decent job in Colombia and are worth supporting through assistance from the Canadian government. For example, there is a unit in the Attorney General's office, the special investigations unit, that is doing a good and decent job. There's still room for improvement, but it's doing a decent job investigating cases of murder and killing of human rights defenders.
Finally, of course, there are lots of important women's rights group in Colombia that deserve support, that deserve recognition and that deserve funding. They do a very valuable, often very brave job and deserve to be supported by the Canadian government.