Foreign Affairs committee  In addition to the Mali transfer from ICRC, we're very glad for a contribution of $250,000 that was given to the Canadian Red Cross, so we could contribute to the federation in Mali. This constituted about 25% of the overall ask in Mali. The ask was more modest for the federation than the ICRC because it was tailored to the capacities of the Mali Red Cross, which is a very cost-effective agency and the main implementation partner of the World Food Programme in Mali as well.

Foreign Affairs committee  Thank you, madam. The refugee situation in Mali is not due solely to the recent conflict. Refugees have been on the move since the farming crisis in 2011. So far, an estimated 371,000 refugees have been displaced, the food crisis being as much to blame as the conflict. Most of those people, some 227,000, have been displaced internally, within Mali.

Foreign Affairs committee  All I would say is that it's shifting weekly. I'm not going to comment on….

Foreign Affairs committee  In Syria you can divide the areas into three categories: currently under government control, under non-government control, or under intermittent control. Access is very good in both the government and the non-government areas. It's most difficult in the areas under intermittent control, and every access to that humanitarian space is negotiated day by day and case by case.

Foreign Affairs committee  Thank you for your question. The figures we have on refugees are from October 5. If we factor in those registered and those awaiting registration, there were 93,576 refugees in Turkey, 87,140 refugees in Lebanon, 105,166 in Jordan and 36,500 in Iraq. Those figures don't include the 5,000 or so refugees in North Africa, where the registration process is more challenging.

Foreign Affairs committee  I can't speak specifically to that incident in that camp. What I can say is that in Jordan, the majority of refugees are actually not living in camps; they are living with host families. Whether they are in camps or with host families, it creates added pressure on the limited resources already there.

Foreign Affairs committee  If I may add, the current appeal for operations of the Red Cross movement inside Syria of $27.2 million is for 12 months, from June 2012 to June 2013. It's typical that this emergency appeal would be followed by recovery programming. It's revised every three months. I don't want to go too far on projections, but typically with emergency appeals such as this one, as the situation progresses it evolves into recovery and longer-term programming, assuming there's funding to support that.