Mr. Speaker, for more than 10 years, amid general indifference, millions of women in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo have been living a veritable nightmare.
Despite the efforts of the international community and the general election in 2006, rape, murder, sexual assault, kidnaping and sexual slavery are a daily reality for millions of Congolese women.
This humanitarian crisis recently emerged from oblivion thanks to a report released on September 6, 2007, by the United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, John Holmes. Yesterday, during testimony before NGO representatives, Julienne Lusenge said that Canada had promised $15 million over four years to help victims of sexual violence in the Congo. After two years, her NGO, like all the others, has not seen one red cent.
The Bloc Québécois is calling on this government to take concrete, proactive action to stop the sexual assaults being committed against our African sisters.