Thank you, Madam Chair.
Good morning, sir. Good morning, madam.
I am not a member of this committee. I am a member of the Subcommittee on International Human Rights, and we have undertaken a study on sexual violence against children and women in countries in conflict.
We had two experts before our committee last week, Ms. Joanne Lebert from the Human Rights Research and Education Centre at the University of Ottawa, and a female researcher and analyst from the Pearson Peacekeeping Centre. One of the things they both mentioned was that the concept of “gender-specific” has been eliminated, and that we no longer talk about gender equality, but rather about equality between men and women.
This really has an impact. The notion of gender-specific can no longer be used as a measure and indicator to assess programs that show whether or not they have met the targets or objectives set by the government.
I would just like to quote Ms. Lebert on this topic. She said that she was really worried about this because it was not only a question of equality. Equality is important. But the question of gender is also really important because it is a question of identity. If we take out the concept of identity from analyses, we cannot understand the power relationships that exist between the members of a community. Without this type of in-depth analysis, it is very difficult. We need good analytical tools, so that we can get information and better understand the situation.
Along the same lines, in the action plan proposed by the government to follow up on the United Nations Security Council resolution 1325 on sexual violence, we can again see the same thing happening. Nowhere in the action plan is there any reference to gender-specific. It is a bit worrisome.
As I said earlier, this is a vital measuring tool. Eliminating or taking out this concept is problematic for the Department of Foreign Affairs.