Foreign Affairs committee  I'd simply add that obviously we need to have peace in a country in order to provide the stability so that people can work their way out of poverty, and that there are serious concerns about whether the African forces can provide that sort of security you're talking about. Canada could play a role in ensuring that they have the human rights capacity, the capacity for understanding their role as protectors of civilians, as protectors of communities.

Foreign Affairs committee  We are always working with hope that everything will be peaceful and that the conflict will be resolved. As a foreign player, we cannot make comments on the elections in another country.

Foreign Affairs committee  Well, Oxfam certainly is providing assistance there. I believe I met colleagues with CARE—

Foreign Affairs committee  I believe the Canadian government provides support via the United Nations agencies.

Foreign Affairs committee  Once the conflict is over, when people are no longer killing each other, there will be a phase of reconstruction, of rehabilitation.

Foreign Affairs committee  Most people actually are pastoralists; they herd goats or other animals. So it's not exactly a farm, and many of them are nomadic. They will have lost many of their assets, which are their animals, because they don't have anywhere to sell them now and there is a shortage, of course, of pasture, as there always is.

Foreign Affairs committee  That may have a role. We've provided animals to people, veterinary services. That's something that Oxfam does regularly when people are recovering from a drought or a conflict. Once they've recovered, it's important to make sure that the markets are actually functioning, that is, keeping borders open so that food can be traded across borders, making sure that there are traders who can actually operate.

Foreign Affairs committee  I would hope so, thank you.

Foreign Affairs committee  I'm referring to how the conflict itself has an impact on neighbouring countries. The most direct, obvious impact is when people cross the border and have to be taken care of. We have hundreds of thousands of people who had to flee their homes, who are now living in neighbouring countries.

Foreign Affairs committee  As you know, Canadian diplomats are not in the business of delivering humanitarian assistance. Humanitarian agencies do that, and United Nations agencies in particular.

Foreign Affairs committee  Certainly, if we're coordinating—your own intelligence and understanding of the situation would be limited if there aren't Canadian personnel providing that to you. We're doing our best to bring our partial understanding of the situation to you today. I don't know exactly—and perhaps my colleagues could help—what it means that there's no CIDA office in Niger for this particular crisis.

Foreign Affairs committee  Thank you very much. Good afternoon, everyone. It's a pleasure to be here. I will make my comments in English, but I will be pleased to answer your questions in either official language. Oxfam is present in over 90 countries in the world, and has been present in Mali for many years, Mali being one of the most vulnerable populations in the world as I'm sure you know.

Foreign Affairs committee  Most certainly. The weapons that we would consider to be for civilian use are commonly used by criminals in developing countries, and I would say in many countries. They're used by criminals and by terrorists. I think the Canadian government's approach that we heard about earlier today is quite appropriate: not to look at the type of weapon—because any weapon can be adapted for bad use—but to look at the end users themselves.

Foreign Affairs committee  As far as I know, but I'm not an expert on this.

Foreign Affairs committee  I don't worry seriously about it, because frankly this is about the international trade in weapons; it's not about domestic regulation. I think Canada has actually provided useful clarification that it should not be about domestic ownership of guns, but it is about the international trade in weapons.