Government Operations committee  I will just clarify the issues that the audit found. First, in terms of the compliance of authorities, one of the findings was that the audit was unable to demonstrate that all of the necessary information was on file. To this I will mention that in a lot of these cases, it wasn't necessarily that the documentation didn't exist but more that when the auditors were looking into finding that information, the information wasn't readily available on file.

Government Operations committee  Good afternoon, Mr. Chair. It is a pleasure to be here today. Let me begin by thanking this committee for the invitation to appear to speak on this important topic. The audit of procurement of consulting services was included in Global Affairs Canada's 2023‑25 internal audit plan, which was approved by the deputy minister of foreign affairs in June 2023.

Foreign Affairs committee  Unfortunately, I don't have any additional information with me today on that.

Foreign Affairs committee  I'm not aware of where that particular promise would be, but we'd be happy to go back to the department and get that information.

Foreign Affairs committee  Thank you very much for the question. I'm not sure I have the specific response to the question that you've asked. What I can say is that the funding that's provided in these supplementary estimates for biodiversity programs will support three different thematic areas, including conservation and restoration, sustainable use of biodiversity, and an enabling environment and mainstreaming function.

Foreign Affairs committee  Thank you very much for the question. In terms of the funding and the partners that we've used in the past with respect to the Middle East, we do tend to use very experienced and principled partners, given the challenges in the region, particularly when we're thinking about humanitarian assistance.

Foreign Affairs committee  Thank you very much for the question. I'm sorry. I think I understand what it is you're looking for now. I think I mentioned earlier that the strategy has evolved to reflect Canada's priorities in the region. We've now integrated emerging priorities, such as food security and climate change.

Foreign Affairs committee  Specifically within these supplementary estimates, we haven't requested any additional funding to respond. The response that we've done so far has been within our existing reference levels. We have requested some funding for West Bank and Gaza from our crisis pool, but it's fairly minimal for this fiscal year, at $3 million, in addition the other funding that we've supported through our existing reference levels.

Foreign Affairs committee  I'll turn it to my colleague Peter MacDougall.

Foreign Affairs committee  Support for women's rights is at the cornerstone, as you know, of Canada's feminist international assistance policy, but perhaps I can turn to my colleague, Peter MacDougall, to have him provide some additional details about specifics on those initiatives.

Foreign Affairs committee  Thank you very much for the question. Again I will turn it to my colleague Peter MacDougall.

Foreign Affairs committee  Thank you very much for the question. I'm unable to describe the engagement in great detail. I know that extensive consultations with Canadian partners have been taking place throughout the projects. This is really a multi-year project that we're calling our Gs and Cs transformation initiative.

Foreign Affairs committee  I would say that yes, all of our processes and all of our various enhancements and whatnot that we're doing will take those things into consideration. The overall objective of the Gs and Cs transformation is to reduce that administrative burden, both within the department and with all of our partners.

Foreign Affairs committee  Thank you very much for the question, but I don't have a comment on that.

Foreign Affairs committee  What I would say is that from a Government of Canada perspective, we don't condone that kind of activity and we would definitely ask that our partners take swift action if something like that—