Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  I can add that one of the reasons for the recent jump is the surge of COVID cases and the associated lockdowns, which means children are out of school, which is often a safe space. Mental health is really affected by that, as we see here in Canada. Lockdowns, as well as the impact of COVID, also limit the ability of organizations to deliver mental health supports.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Sure, I can continue quickly, and Lindsay may want to add anything from World Vision. Yes, I think the closing of schools is a huge thing. We run safe spaces programs in schools, which are a really great way to reach out to children who have had a lot of trauma. As well, the lockdowns make it so that when children need to access services, they cannot.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Thank you. My colleague will give our remarks.

Foreign Affairs committee  I can jump in. As you mentioned, there's been a huge number of children who have been out of school, over a billion. There remain hundreds of millions of children who are in and out of school, and that number keeps changing. I would say it's because of the pandemic, but also in conflict situations we have to think if there are other reasons, too.

Foreign Affairs committee  I would just add that Canada should invest where it's going to have the most impact and where it's proven. Multilaterals can have a really fantastic impact when it comes to delivering on scale. For example, we see Gavi with vaccines and the Global Fund and the great work they're doing around HIV/AIDS, TB and malaria.

Foreign Affairs committee  By enabling us to increase our efforts, we'll be able to ensure that not only all kids who were in school, including girls in those vulnerable groups before the pandemic, are able to return but also that we can pick up the great work that was generally happening around getting more students in school.

Foreign Affairs committee  Exactly.

Foreign Affairs committee  I don't think I said that specifically, but the case that we're trying to make, as a civil society in Canada, is that these are unprecedented times. We have the opportunity to not only stop the scaling back of a lot of progress we've made in areas of health, education, and other issues but also address the global pandemic.

Foreign Affairs committee  Sorry, interpretation. I feel that her comments really highlight the complexities of implementing distance-based learning measures, particularly for families living in poverty and in crisis situations. Save the Children has worked to employ innovative solutions to address many of these learning barriers, but it is vital that we get all children back into school as soon as it is safe to do so.

Foreign Affairs committee  Good afternoon, I'm Taryn Russell, head of policy and advocacy at Save the Children Canada, and I'm here with my colleague, Tineka Levy, who's the humanitarian adviser. Save the Children works to address the needs and rights of children in more than 100 countries around the world, including in Canada.

Foreign Affairs committee  I can jump in. As David said, we have seen an outpouring of interest and support from Canadians, which is fantastic—from individual families to philanthropists. I think it's a case of political will. It's something we can come together on to ensure that, if not now, when? This is the time we need to be stepping up, especially if we want to get Canada back on track.

Foreign Affairs committee  I can jump in. As many of you know, the needs are just huge. The COVID-19 pandemic is a global crisis. It demands a global emergency response. We aren't going to get Canada's economy on track if the global economy is still off track. That means we need to be supporting the efforts that are going on around the world.

Foreign Affairs committee  I can start. Like I said, I think the commitments that Canada made have been really important. We're seeing the impacts of those. There are indications that Canada intends to make more commitments to international development funding. The $400 million was announced, as I said, in September, but we haven't seen indications of where that money is flowing yet.

Foreign Affairs committee  I can start, and then I'll let UNICEF jump in as well. That's been one of the most concerning things we've seen. There's a real threat of rolling back some really good progress that we've made globally on gender equality. The combination of increasing rates of poverty and the closures of schools has put girls in a really vulnerable position.

Foreign Affairs committee  Maybe I can build on David's comments. I think when it comes to humanitarian funding, in particular, what's really important and having the biggest impact is its timeliness and flexibility, so that the quicker the money flows out, the more lives can be saved. I think we can be better at putting mechanisms in place to ensure that this can happen so it doesn't get caught up in bureaucratic constraints.