Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
Thank you so much to the expert witnesses today. I'd also like to acknowledge members of the Sudanese Canadian community who are here in the room watching. I know that many of you likely have family and have gone through terrible times in the last two years.
One of the things that we would note about this horror that is happening in Sudan is that it is both the worst humanitarian crisis in the world, as many of you have stated, and also one of the least covered. It's one that I think, if more Canadians knew about it, we would be seeing a lot more outrage about it and a lot more desire to help.
With that, I'd like to start with you, Professor Medani. You said something that was very interesting about the population in Sudan, which is that there are civilians who are protesting, that there are people who are trying to empower themselves to act on this.
I would also note that just this week we celebrated the 25th anniversary of Security Council Resolution 1325 on women, peace and security. I worked on a project at one point with women in the Horn of Africa to find ways for them to be able to empower for peace.
My question is starting with you and then Ms. Langlois and others who wish to answer. How is it that we can empower both civilians and women in Sudan, because we look at women very much as the victims. They are victims of horrible atrocities, but they can also be agents for peace and agents of change? How do we empower those women, whether it is to collect forensic evidence that can be used in international courts, whether it's ways to create local governance or whether it's at the peace table?
What can the international community do to help empower the women of Sudan?