Mr. Chair, I appreciated the parliamentary secretary's remarks. I would particularly like to return to his references to the continent of Africa.
As he rightfully noted, the continent has made some progress of which I think all people of the world are quite happy for. But there are still challenges and there are still difficulties involved in Africa.
There have been a number of conflicts and while some of them have successfully progressed, I think particularly of the situations in the Congo, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Burundi and the Ivory Coast. They have all progressed in a positive way, but there are other situations that continue to concern me and concern other Canadians who have an interest in the welfare of the people of Africa.
In particular, let me note a few of the countries and perhaps the parliamentary secretary can respond in each situation on what the government's response has been. I think particularly of the Sudan and the humanitarian situation there, the ongoing violence. I know the UN and the African Union are involved there.
There is the situation in northern Uganda with the fanatical Lord's Resistance Army still causing a major disruption.
In Somalia, again, there is still an ongoing problem internally with its long problems of political, humanitarian and other forms of unrest.
More recently, we have seen problems in Zimbabwe and Kenya. In Zimbabwe it has been with the current election turbulence and the economic collapse in the country. Kenya, long regarded as one of the pillars of Africa, has gone through an election situation that has been somewhat stressful. Hopefully, it has moved to a positive resolution.
I would appreciate the parliamentary secretary's response on what the government is doing to assist in these countries.