Madam Chair, right from the get-go, Canada recognized that we would need to pivot our response to ensure that we were addressing the needs on the ground. In fact, one of the very first things we did, given the border closures, the closures of airspaces and the challenges in humanitarian assistance to be delivered, is that we supported the World Food Programme, which is the humanitarian arm, but also the logistical arm, of the United Nations. We provided it with an immediate grant so that it could support the UN Humanitarian Air Service to deliver life-saving interventions, particularly to vulnerable populations in remote areas.
We have also heard from partners on the ground, recognizing again that we need to further deepen the localization agenda and ensure that local partners have the capacity to respond on the ground. Unlike in previous epidemics, there has not been an ability for the international community to mobilize when the pandemic is truly a global issue.
Canada worked with our humanitarian partners, with local women's rights organizations on the ground and with LGBTQ2+ organizations on the ground that really were on the front lines of the pandemic response, and quickly forwarded resources to them so that they could scale up their responses.
We also provided additional support to existing partners and programs so they could purchase PPE and continue delivering the life-saving support they were providing, among a number of other initiatives.