Foreign Affairs committee  The matching funds are an incredibly powerful tool for raising awareness and engagement with the Canadian public. We've really benefited from them, as CARE and as a humanitarian coalition, in recent years. I would say though that we have learned lessons in slow onset emergencies—

Foreign Affairs committee  You're absolutely right that we have an issue of very low funding levels. Inside Syria it's only 7% funded; outside Syria it's 13%. Those are fairly recent numbers from the last couple of weeks from the financial tracking system. We have to encourage those donors, especially the

Foreign Affairs committee  It's the same for us. We sign a grant based on a proposal that's written with very clear deliverables. Very clear results are articulated in our proposals, and we're held accountable based on those commitments that we make to deliver on those results. Once that proposal is approv

Foreign Affairs committee  That's one of the lesser challenges for us, especially outside Syria where safety and security issues are not as concerning. You have a highly educated population across the region, including in Lebanon and in Jordan, so our local staff are amazing. All have expertise in the area

Foreign Affairs committee  Sure. Certainly, it's a very serious concern. One of the key challenges with the Syrian crisis is that it is very under-reported because of social realities and because a lot of the sexual and gender-based violence is happening within families and communities. There's a lot of t

Foreign Affairs committee  The early marriages are expected to be long-term partnerships. Certainly, there is concern around sexual exploitation and abuse. Where families don't have livelihood opportunities, where they don't have an opportunity to work, and where female-headed households are without any ki

Foreign Affairs committee  It is the same for us. We always find it hard to meet all of the needs. CARE launched a campaign to gather $100 million. We have received 25% of that money. There are still needs to be met. However, we see that funding is diminishing a little, generally. We are a little bit afra

Foreign Affairs committee  Allowing for slightly longer-term implementation periods for project funding is very helpful. To date, the project implementation period has been six months. You've got to have everything going very smoothly to be able to deliver on your results in that period of time. Sometimes

Foreign Affairs committee  I'd like to thank you, Mr. Chair, and the distinguished members of the committee, for the invitation to speak to you today about the situation in Syria and in the region. I am going to make my presentation in English, but I can answer questions in French. I returned from Leban