Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  If I can add to that from a social scientist's perspective and from my fieldwork elsewhere, with the police in particular, I think we have to make it a viable option: an opportunity to contribute to somebody's livelihood, quite frankly. People often go unpaid for long periods of time.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  There's that part, but there's also the information being used. Women who have been victimized are asked to tell their stories over and over. I mean, they're being re-victimized. Then that information is used to raise funds for an organization or an initiative. There is often a disconnect afterwards, once the stories are usurped.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Yes.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  I'm not sure how to tackle that question. I think it's important for these things to happen simultaneously. I think we're all very pleased to see the Government of Canada's commitment, and that of the DRC in particular, which has invested quite a lot of money on sexual violence programming.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Not yet.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  I was responsible for this file at Peacebuild, and I've since moved on. To be honest, Peacebuild has no funding at the moment, so the capacity to organize civil society around this issue has been greatly diminished. There is no central focal point right now that can go to DFAIT and make this statement.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Sure. Yes, it's a mix.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  It's a lot of what Madame St-Pierre has said. There is some duplication. About a year and a half ago, we had a woman speak to us who represented a local church in the eastern Congo. She provided very clear evidence that their community initiatives to address social violence, and to ensure that it doesn't flare up in the community, were actually quite effective.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Just to clarify, to start off with, I don't see the plan of action or UN Security Council resolutions related to women, peace, and security as band-aid solutions. I see them as integral. I don't see them as enough. I see our current action plan as a starting point that we can work with to improve.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Actually, no mention is made of the word "gender" in the national action plan, but it talks about “substantive equality between men and women”. As a researcher, an anthropologist, that very much troubles me because it's more than a matter of equality. Equality is important, but gender is really a question of identity.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  My training is in anthropology. So I have a lot of experience working at the local level. I think this is really something central to good solid analysis. National action plans are extremely important at the macro level, but that's not enough. The Government of Canada, as a member of the United Nations, has been pressed into developing a national plan.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  I would like to strongly recommend a book written by Séverine Autesserre, of Columbia University. She was in Ottawa last week and made some presentations here. It's entitled The Trouble with the Congo. To my mind, it really depicts what goes on when there's a lack of analysis from the local standpoint.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  As Madame St-Pierre mentioned, she and I both were involved in the consultative process. Actually, in my capacity at Peacebuild, we conducted the national consultations over the course of the summer. It was welcomed by members of civil society. We were very pleased that it finally happened.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. I would like to thank you for this invitation to appear today and for this opportunity to present and address a subject of enormous importance: the issue of sexual violence against women and children in fragile states and situations of conflict.