{"id":23905,"date":"2022-02-07T10:47:00","date_gmt":"2022-02-07T15:47:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/care.ca\/?p=23905"},"modified":"2022-04-14T11:59:19","modified_gmt":"2022-04-14T15:59:19","slug":"house-of-commons-special-committee-on-afghanistan-care-canada-opening-statement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/care.ca\/2022\/02\/07\/house-of-commons-special-committee-on-afghanistan-care-canada-opening-statement\/","title":{"rendered":"House of Commons\u2019 Special Committee on Afghanistan: CARE Canada Opening Statement"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\t\n<h1>\n\t\tANOTHER POST\n\t<\/h1>\n\t<h3><b>CARE CANADA STATEMENT<\/b><br \/>\n<b>BARBARA GRANTHAM, PRESIDENT &amp; CEO, CARE CANADA<\/b>\u00a0<\/h3>\n<p>Depuis nos bureaux situ\u00e9s sur le territoire non c\u00e9d\u00e9 et non abandonn\u00e9 de la Nation algonquine Anishinabe, je remercie le Comit\u00e9 de nous avoir invit\u00e9 \u00e0 compara\u00eetre dans le cadre de cette \u00e9tude. CARE travaille en Afghanistan depuis 1961, avec de g\u00e9n\u00e9reux financements canadiens depuis 2001.<\/p>\n<p>I have two key messages for the Committee:\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><i>First, Canadian anti-terror legislation currently bars humanitarian organizations from implementing Canadian-funded <\/i><i>programs in Afghanistan, and this must be addressed immediately.\u00a0<\/i>\u00a0<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li data-leveltext=\"\uf0b7\" data-font=\"Symbol\" data-listid=\"17\" aria-setsize=\"-1\" data-aria-posinset=\"1\" data-aria-level=\"1\">The humanitarian imperative to respond is clear, with concurrent crises leading up to the takeover, and escalating dramatically since then.\u00a0\u00a0<\/li>\n<li data-leveltext=\"\uf0b7\" data-font=\"Symbol\" data-listid=\"17\" aria-setsize=\"-1\" data-aria-posinset=\"2\" data-aria-level=\"1\">Yet humanitarian organizations like CARE Canada are unable to respond. The Taliban is on Canada&#8217;s Anti-Terrorism Act&#8217;s list of terrorist entities and are the country&#8217;s de facto government. The view is that paying ordinary taxes (on rent, salaries, imports etc.) would violate Canada&#8217;s Criminal Code (<a href=\"https:\/\/laws-lois.justice.gc.ca\/eng\/acts\/c-46\/page-9.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">paragraph 83.03(b)<\/a>), which make it a criminal offence to <i>&#8220;make available [resources and] services&#8230; knowing that&#8230; they will be used by or will benefit a terrorist group&#8221;<\/i><i>.\u00a0\u00a0<\/i>\u00a0<\/li>\n<li data-leveltext=\"\uf0b7\" data-font=\"Symbol\" data-listid=\"17\" aria-setsize=\"-1\" data-aria-posinset=\"3\" data-aria-level=\"1\">The intent of the legislation was never to impede lifesaving support from reaching the most vulnerable communities in Afghanistan. However, this is the result. <b>CARE has been unable to implement Canadian-funded programs in Afghanistan <\/b>since August 2021. Our mobile health teams cannot travel to remote areas, purchase medicines, or provide protection or nutrition services, in a country where 1M children are at risk of dying of malnutrition.<b>\u00a0<\/b>\u00a0<\/li>\n<li data-leveltext=\"\uf0b7\" data-font=\"Symbol\" data-listid=\"17\" aria-setsize=\"-1\" data-aria-posinset=\"4\" data-aria-level=\"1\"><b>Le Canada est le seul des donateurs institutionnels de la conf\u00e9d\u00e9ration CARE dont le financement n&#8217;a pas repris.<\/b>\u00a0<\/li>\n<li data-leveltext=\"\uf0b7\" data-font=\"Symbol\" data-listid=\"17\" aria-setsize=\"-1\" data-aria-posinset=\"5\" data-aria-level=\"1\">This interpretation of the law also does not align with the vision and objectives of Canada&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.international.gc.ca\/world-monde\/issues_development-enjeux_developpement\/priorities-priorites\/policy-politique.aspx?lang=eng\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Feminist International Assistance Policy<\/a> (FIAP), which acknowledges that &#8220;<i>we need to be willing to take responsible risks, with decisions based on evidence and learning<\/i>.&#8221;\u202f The policy itself acknowledges that delivering responsive and accountable assistance for meaningful social change cannot be achieved without this.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li data-leveltext=\"\uf0b7\" data-font=\"Symbol\" data-listid=\"17\" aria-setsize=\"-1\" data-aria-posinset=\"1\" data-aria-level=\"1\"><b>As such, we urge the Government of Canada to pursue all innovative solutions that ensure that Canadian humanitarian organizations can resume operations without exposure to criminal liability, as per UN Security Council Resolution 2615, in the short- and long-term.<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\t<p><i>My second message is that gender equality<\/i><i>, and the response efforts of women humanitarian and civil society leaders, must be prioritized in Canada&#8217;s support to Afghanistan.<\/i>\u00a0<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li data-leveltext=\"\uf0b7\" data-font=\"Symbol\" data-listid=\"17\" aria-setsize=\"-1\" data-aria-posinset=\"2\" data-aria-level=\"1\">Principled humanitarian action must reach all people in need, and it is necessary to acknowledge that gender inequality persists, which leads women and girls and marginalized people to be disproportionately affected by crises.\u00a0\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>\n<ul>\n<li data-leveltext=\"o\" data-font=\"Courier New\" data-listid=\"17\" aria-setsize=\"-1\" data-aria-posinset=\"1\" data-aria-level=\"2\">Of the 22.8 million people facing acute food insecurity, 47% are women and girls. \u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>\n<ul>\n<li data-leveltext=\"o\" data-font=\"Courier New\" data-listid=\"17\" aria-setsize=\"-1\" data-aria-posinset=\"1\" data-aria-level=\"2\">Of more than 500,000 people displaced in 2021, at least 80% are women and children.\u00a0\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li data-leveltext=\"\uf0b7\" data-font=\"Symbol\" data-listid=\"17\" aria-setsize=\"-1\" data-aria-posinset=\"1\" data-aria-level=\"1\"><b>For this reason, local women&#8217;s leadership<\/b><b> is <\/b><b>critical<\/b><b> to delivering humanitarian aid, especially in marginalized communities, and<\/b><b> must be prioritized in the response efforts.<\/b>\u00a0\n<ul>\n<li data-leveltext=\"o\" data-font=\"Courier New\" data-listid=\"17\" aria-setsize=\"-1\" data-aria-posinset=\"2\" data-aria-level=\"2\">Yet, women-led NGOs&#8217; own ability to deliver services is severely constrained by the ongoing economic and liquidity crises, unable to access funds to run operations.\u00a0\u00a0<\/li>\n<li data-leveltext=\"o\" data-font=\"Courier New\" data-listid=\"17\" aria-setsize=\"-1\" data-aria-posinset=\"3\" data-aria-level=\"2\">While possible in some provinces, the full participation of women humanitarian staff remains limited, which risks marginalizing women and girls further.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\t<p><b>To conclude:<\/b>\u00a0<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li data-leveltext=\"%1.\" data-font=\"Calibri,Arial,\uff2d\uff33 \u660e\u671d\" data-listid=\"15\" aria-setsize=\"-1\" data-aria-posinset=\"1\" data-aria-level=\"1\">First: We urge Canada to pursue all innovative solutions that allow Canadian humanitarian organizations to resume programs in Afghanistan, in the short and long terms<br \/>\n<\/li>\n<li data-leveltext=\"%1.\" data-font=\"Calibri,Arial,\uff2d\uff33 \u660e\u671d\" data-listid=\"15\" aria-setsize=\"-1\" data-aria-posinset=\"1\" data-aria-level=\"1\">Canada must prioritize the leadership of women humanitarian staff and civil society organizations in the response.\n<ul>\n<li data-leveltext=\"%1.\" data-font=\"Calibri,Arial,\uff2d\uff33 \u660e\u671d\" data-listid=\"15\" aria-setsize=\"-1\" data-aria-posinset=\"1\" data-aria-level=\"1\">a. Flexible, predictable funding must reach these local responders. Additional costs that ensure the safety of NGO staff, including women staff (e.g. such as separate office spaces, separate accommodations for travel) requires donors&#8217; support.<\/li>\n<li data-leveltext=\"%1.\" data-font=\"Calibri,Arial,\uff2d\uff33 \u660e\u671d\" data-listid=\"15\" aria-setsize=\"-1\" data-aria-posinset=\"1\" data-aria-level=\"1\">b. The newly-established &#8220;Afghan Women Advisory Group&#8221;, which informs the Humanitarian Country Team&#8217;s engagement with the Taliban, must also be supported by Canada.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<ol>\n\n<\/ol>\n\t<p>Merci au Comit\u00e9, et j&#8217;ai h\u00e2te d&#8217;\u00e9changer avec vous lors de la discussion. Thank you to the Committee, and I look forward to your questions.\u00a0<\/p>\n<h3>\n\t\tRELATED POSTS\n\t<\/h3>\n\t<div class=\"popular-post-row\">\n\t\t<!-- <li><a href=\"<\/a><\/li> -->\n\t<div class=\"popular-post-col\">\n\t\t<div class=\"popular-post-bg-wrapper\" style=\"background-image: url(https:\/\/care.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Care-News-Release-Graphic-no-logo.png) ;\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"popular-post-content\">\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"post-cat-wrap\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"post-cat News releases and statements Emergency Response President &amp; CEO Uncategorized \"><a href=\"https:\/\/care.ca\/category\/post-type\/news-releases-and-statements\/\">News releases and statements<\/a><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"popular-post-title\"><a href=\"https:\/\/care.ca\/2024\/04\/26\/gaza-military-offensive-on-rafah-would-be-a-cruel-and-heart-breaking-blow\/\">\n\t\t\t\tGAZA: Military offensive on Rafah would be a \u201ccruel and heart-breaki...\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"popular-post-link\"><a href=\"https:\/\/care.ca\/2024\/04\/26\/gaza-military-offensive-on-rafah-would-be-a-cruel-and-heart-breaking-blow\/\">Read More<\/a><\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n\t\t<!-- <li><a href=\"<\/a><\/li> -->\n\t<div class=\"popular-post-col\">\n\t\t<div class=\"popular-post-bg-wrapper\" style=\"background-image: url(https:\/\/care.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Invest-in-AID_Budget2024_2024-04-16.png) ;\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"popular-post-content\">\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"post-cat-wrap\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"post-cat News releases and statements Emergency Response President &amp; CEO Uncategorized \"><a href=\"https:\/\/care.ca\/category\/post-type\/news-releases-and-statements\/\">News releases and statements<\/a><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"popular-post-title\"><a href=\"https:\/\/care.ca\/2024\/04\/16\/canadian-aid-sector-welcomes-budget-boost-for-humanitarian-needs\/\">\n\t\t\t\tCanadian Aid Sector Welcomes Budget Boost for Humanitarian Needs\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"popular-post-link\"><a href=\"https:\/\/care.ca\/2024\/04\/16\/canadian-aid-sector-welcomes-budget-boost-for-humanitarian-needs\/\">Read More<\/a><\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n\t\t<!-- <li><a href=\"<\/a><\/li> -->\n\t<div class=\"popular-post-col\">\n\t\t<div class=\"popular-post-bg-wrapper\" style=\"background-image: url(https:\/\/care.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/RS106169_Douar-Amghrass-4_scr-e1713194872818.jpg) ;\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"popular-post-content\">\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"post-cat-wrap\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"post-cat News releases and statements Emergency Response President &amp; CEO Uncategorized \"><a href=\"https:\/\/care.ca\/category\/post-type\/story\/\">Story<\/a><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"popular-post-title\"><a href=\"https:\/\/care.ca\/2024\/04\/15\/morocco-more-than-six-months-after-the-earthquake-the-road-to-recovery-remains-long\/\">\n\t\t\t\tMorocco: More than six months after the earthquake, the road to recove...\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"popular-post-link\"><a href=\"https:\/\/care.ca\/2024\/04\/15\/morocco-more-than-six-months-after-the-earthquake-the-road-to-recovery-remains-long\/\">Read More<\/a><\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n\t\n<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>On September 8, 2023, hundreds of thousands of people in Morocco were woken abruptly by a 6.8-magnitude earthquake that struck just before midnight. The earthquake was the strongest to hit the region in 120 years and could be felt nearly 100 miles away from the epicenter.\u00a0\u00a0 The earthquake devastated infrastructure in Al Haouz, Taroudant, Chichaoua, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":22705,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","inline_featured_image":false,"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[3,39,1182,1],"tags":[2166,2165,2521,85,71,2518,2517,244,356,359,250,218,470,1603,2516,307,308,612,2519,1584],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/care.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23905"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/care.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/care.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/care.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/care.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23905"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/care.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23905\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/care.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22705"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/care.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23905"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/care.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23905"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/care.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23905"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}