THE STANDING SENATE COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND INTERNATIONAL TRADE
EVIDENCE
OTTAWA, Thursday, May 2, 2024
The Standing Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade met with videoconference this day at 11:31 a.m. [ET] to examine and report on Canada’s interests and engagement in Africa.
[English]
Andrea Mugny, Clerk of the Committee: Honourable senators, as clerk of the committee, it is my duty to inform you of the unavoidable absence of the chair and deputy chair and, therefore, to preside over the election of an acting chair. I am ready to receive a motion to that effect.
Senator MacDonald: I thought we did this yesterday, but I guess it wasn’t official. I nominate Senator Boniface to take the chair for these proceedings.
Ms. Mugny: Thank you, Senator MacDonald.
Are there any other nominations?
All right. It is moved by the Honourable Senator MacDonald that the Honourable Senator Boniface take the chair. Is it your pleasure, honourable senators, to adopt the motion?
Hon. Senators: Agreed.
Ms. Mugny: Welcome. I invite Senator Boniface to take the chair.
Senator Gwen Boniface (Acting Chair) in the chair.
The Acting Chair: Honourable senators, I declare the meeting in session. My name is Gwen Boniface, senator from Ontario.
Before we begin, it is my duty like to remind all senators and other meeting participants of the following important preventative measures:
To prevent disruptive – and potentially harmful – audio feedback incidents during our meeting that could cause injuries, we remind all in-person participants to keep their earpieces away from all microphones at all times.
As indicated in the communiqué from the Speaker to all senators on Monday, April 29, the following measures have been taken to help prevent audio feedback incidents: All earpieces have been replaced by a model which greatly reduces the probability of audio feedback. The new earpieces are black in colour, whereas the former earpieces were grey. Please only use a black approved earpiece. By default, all unused earpieces will be unplugged at the start of a meeting.
When you are not using your earpiece, please place it face down, on the middle of the round sticker that you see in front of you on the table, where indicated. Please consult the card on the table for guidelines to prevent audio feedback incidents.
Also please ensure that you are seated in a manner that increases the distance between microphones. Participants must only plug-in their earpieces to the microphone console located directly in front of them.
These measures are in place so that we can conduct our business without interruption and to protect the health and safety of all participants, including the interpreters.
Thank you for your cooperation. I now invite committee members participating in today’s meeting to introduce themselves.
[Translation]
Senator Gerba: I am Amina Gerba from Quebec.
[English]
Senator Greene: Stephen Greene, Nova Scotia.
Senator Ravalia: Mohamed Ravalia, Newfoundland and Labrador. Welcome.
Senator Kutcher: Stan Kutcher, Nova Scotia.
Senator MacDonald: Michael MacDonald, Nova Scotia.
Senator Woo: Yuen Pau Woo, British Columbia.
The Acting Chair: Thank you. I wish to welcome all of you as well as people across Canada who may be watching on ParlVU.
Colleagues, we are meeting today to continue our special study on Canada’s interests and engagement in Africa. Today, we have the pleasure of welcoming by video conference Judith McCallum, Executive Director, Life and Peace Institute, and Thomas Kwasi Tieku, Full Professor of Politics and International Relations, King’s University College at the University of Western Ontario.
Thank you both for taking the time to be with us today. Before we hear your remarks and proceed to questions and answers, I would ask everyone present to please mute notifications on their devices.
We are now ready to hear your opening remarks, which will be followed by questions from senators. We begin today with Ms. Judith McCallum followed by Mr. Thomas Kwasi Tieku.
Ms. McCallum, the floor is yours.
Judith McCallum, Executive Director, Life and Peace Institute: Thank you, senators, and thank you for this wonderful opportunity to address you from Sweden. For the past three years, I’ve been working on peace and security issues in Africa with a focus on the Horn of Africa and Lakes region. During this time I have been privileged to collaborate with Canadian agencies such as the Canadian International Development Agency, or CIDA; DFAIT, the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade; Global Affairs Canada; and, currently, the Peace and Stabilization Operations Program, or PSOPs.
The Life and Peace Institute aims to transform conflicts at different levels of society, from the community to the subnational, national, regional and even global levels. Working cohesively across these multiple levels provides opportunities to enhance community-level work through strategic policy changes.
Despite significant challenges often highlighted in the media, engaging in peace and security issues in Africa offers significant opportunities for Canadian engagement. Some examples from our work include engaging with young people on issues related to peace and security. This can lead to innovative and impactful solutions.
Unfortunately, youth in Africa are often portrayed in a negative light. However, our work with civil society has shown that young people can play critical roles in promoting nonviolent action for peace, for example, the Sudanese resistance committees who promoted nonviolent action during the Sudan revolution and, currently, the emergency rooms in Sudan that are filling critical gaps in the ongoing crisis. We’ve also worked with young people in Kenya to ensure they are not politically manipulated during election processes and instead promote nonviolent action in their communities.
Currently we are supporting diverse youth in Somalia to leverage their creativity and innovation to promote peace in their communities and actively participate in national processes, such as the National Reconciliation Framework.
Young people in Africa possess incredible innovation and creativity to tackle their challenges. For example, some young people in informal settlements around Nairobi developed a toolkit for resilience to conflict based on their own experiences. We are using this toolkit and sharing it in other African contexts and even in other parts of the world such as Sweden.
Canada’s feminist foreign policy offers a significant advantage in promoting women in peace and security engagement in Africa. Sustainable peace and security needs inclusive approaches, ensuring those most affected by conflict and violence are at the centre of interventions. There is growing evidence of the significance of women’s positive roles in peacebuilding and conflict management including mediation processes.
In a recent project in Oromia in Ethiopia, which was supported by PSOPs, women’s traditional networks were supported to expand their influence in local peacebuilding processes. There was an added benefit which elevated some of the women into the political sphere. This reflects a Canadian added value of support for inclusivity, diversity and gender equality in peace and security issues.
In recent research into women in mediation processes in South Sudan, I found that the women’s movement had grown significantly in recent years, thanks to the sustained support and inputs from international donors, including Canada. This enabled women to secure places at the table in the revitalized peace talks in 2018, and they continue to be active forces. At a time when responses to war and conflict are increasingly securitized and many international actors are pivoting away from supporting long-term peace and development in favour of short-term humanitarian intervention, Canada can stand out against these trends.
Canada has much to offer and much to learn in several areas of peace and security work. Canada can bring a particular lens and experience in transitional justice and reconciliation, while also learning from African partners at various stages in these processes. Canada is already working through partners at various levels in Africa, through the UN, the African Union’s Regional Economic Communities, or RECS, and bilateral programs.
A strategic opportunity exists to connect these spaces and create synergy between these levels. Long-term consistent support for peacebuilding is critical for the following reasons. Preventive peacebuilding has proven to be much more cost‑effective than addressing the humanitarian results of conflict. When channelled through civil society, peacebuilding support can be extremely effective. It leverages key societal forces for change while also enhancing good governance. This also provides an arena for Canada to build relationships with key stakeholders in Africa while simultaneously supporting Canadian values around liberal peace, diversity and gender equality.
The knock-on impacts from support to peacebuilding also enhance stability and the conditions for sustainable economic growth and prosperity. It also provides opportunities for Canada to punch well above its weight, not least as other donors have reduced their profile in this critical sector.
Therefore, senators, engaging in Africa provides significant opportunities to share Canada’s expertise and resources and can be extremely rewarding despite the daunting challenges imposed by climate change, poverty and the impact of the global crises that are also having a significant impact on the continent.
Thank you again for this chance to address you. I look forward to your questions and the conversation.
The Acting Chair: Thank you very much, Ms. McCallum. Now we move to Mr. Tieku. We welcome you. Go ahead.
Thomas Kwasi Tieku, Full Professor of Politics and International Relations, King’s University College at the University of Western Ontario, As an Individual: Thank you, honourable chair, for giving me this opportunity to contribute to this important examination of Canada’s interests and engagement in Africa.
I have been asked to talk about peace and security in Africa and, therefore, my remarks below will suggest that Canada has unique assets to contribute meaningfully to transforming Africa’s peace deficits into peace dividends.
Honourable chair, the peace and security landscape in Africa is undeniably complex, and it may sometimes appear insurmountable. There are about eight active conflicts on the continent. Violent extremism in the Sahel, political instability, trafficking of all forms, an irredentist movement, border insecurities, harmful human practices, extreme income inequalities, absolute poverty, climate crises and economic vulnerabilities have all combined to create a precarious security environment for millions of Africans. Rightly so, some Canadians may be asking, should Canada get involved in such a complex security arena? My answer is absolutely yes. As a trading country, a peaceful Africa would be good for the Canadian bottom line, Canadian diplomacy and the world at large.
It is also very important for us to recognize that the challenges that I have outlined are resolvable. Indeed, over 80% of Africans live together peacefully most of the time. Canada has enormous soft and hard skills that can be deployed to help create peace for the majority of Africans.
Madam Chair, I would recommend that Canada’s approach should not focus only on ending ongoing violence, which tends to dominate the news headlines, but must also be geared toward long-lasting, sustainable peacebuilding efforts and building resilience against future destabilization. In concrete terms, let me categorize my solutions or recommendations into short, medium and long terms.
In the short and medium terms, I would strongly recommend that Canada support UN Security Council Resolution 2719, which has now paved the way for UN assessed contributions to the mission of the African Union Partnership, or AUP. and there is a reason for that.
Canada should also support, at the moment, the gradual shift from traditional peacekeeping operations to peace‑support operations as outlined in the 2023 Policy Brief of the UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, entitled A New Agenda for Peace. Canada should also support the ongoing efforts on the framework developed by the African Union called “Silencing the Guns” and, in particular, support the work in Africa of the High Representative for Silencing the Guns. Lastly, Canada should support ongoing mediation efforts and processes that can help parties negotiate an end to ongoing violence. There is no military solution to the current crises on the African continent.
In terms of the long-term, I would recommend that Canada leverages its educational assets to embed peace education in the curricula of African schools. Second, Canada should use its agricultural expertise to address food insecurity on the African continent; it has been the major enduring cause of instability on the African continent since independence. Food is at the root of most African political crises. Third, I would suggest that Canada draw on experience in practising multiculturalism and democracy to help African countries design governance models that can help manage Africa’s diversity better. Poor management of diversity is at the heart of Africa’s insecurity.
Finally, Canada should utilize its Global Affairs Canada assets — strengthen and utilize them to support African countries to create and nurture a new generation of African leaders who are committed to liberal values and then liberal internationalism. Leadership will continue to shape the prospects for peace on the African continent. Therefore, Canada should proactively help shape the kinds of African leaders that the Canadian government would like to engage with in the future.
Honourable chair, these solutions are not new. Canada’s engagement in Africa should not aim to reinvent the wheel. I will emphasize why it is very important for us not to reinvent the wheel. Rather, Canada should leverage existing smart ideas and initiatives to strengthen peacebuilding infrastructure on the African continent.
In conclusion, a peaceful and stable Africa not only benefit Africans alone but contributes to global peace and prosperity. I thank you so much for giving me the opportunity to contribute to this study.
The Acting Chair: Thank you very much to both witnesses. We will now move to questions. I wish to inform members that you will have a maximum of four minutes for the first round. That includes both the questions and answers.
Senator MacDonald: Thank you, chair. I will send my first question to Professor Tieku. Thank you very much for being here, sir. One of the concerns in Canada is watching China deepen its engagement in African security affairs. How do you assess the implications for regional stability and the balance of power, especially in light of the traditional Western influence and interest in the region? How might African countries navigate these competing dynamics to safeguard their own security and their own sovereignty?
Mr. Tieku: Thank you so much, senator, for that wonderful question. I think this is the multi-million-dollar question, but the first thing I would say is that Canada or the West wouldn’t have this problem if it had not made mistakes on the African continent. Remember that, traditionally, the West has built a critical mass of Africans, particularly in the civil service and government, who think and who are mostly running toward the West and not toward China. Right? Working with those individuals can be very important.
Canada, in particular, has some very important individuals in strategic positions in government and in international organizations that we can leverage in terms of dealing with China’s influence on the African continent and in managing it.
Most important, though, it would be a strategic mistake for Canada and the West to think about China in Cold War terms. Canada should be able to play to its strength in areas such as soft skills. Canada is very good at dealing with soft skills. Play to our advantage, and let China go into areas where China has a comparative advantage, for example, infrastructure. China wants to be there.
Canada has assets, and I emphasize, for example, the excellent educational system, an educational system that has so much peace built into it. Those are the areas where I think Canada can be very helpful. Strategic repositioning and then division of labour, that will be the way to go. Thank you so much.
Senator MacDonald: In that light then, with China’s expanding presence through initiatives like the Belt and Road Initiative, how do you foresee African nations balancing their economic interests with concerns about potential debt traps and loss of sovereignty, particularly in the context of China’s growing influence in strategic sectors such as infrastructure and natural resources? We have seen concerns about owning airfields and things of that nature, where there is long-term debt. I am just curious; what’s the best way for nations to manage this?
Mr. Tieku: Thank you so much. That’s why I have highlighted education and governance. Once African countries have good education systems and smart people who know how to negotiate, it is my sense that will not be a major issue because they will have a built-in mechanism not to trap Africans.
Second, a properly and well-functioning political system will be able to address any challenges posed by China. That’s why I am saying that if Canada is able to help Africa develop good sustainable education systems and a very good governance system that is able to feed Africans so they are not vulnerable, it is my sense they will have the agency to withstand China, for example, and will not allow China to engage in practices that are not helpful to the continent.
Senator MacDonald: Thank you.
Senator Ravalia: Thank you very much to both of our witnesses. Welcome. My question, as well, is for Professor Tieku.
Professor, in your opinion, what opportunities do you believe exist for joint training programs and capacity-building efforts between Canadian and African educational institutions to strengthen skills, knowledge and expertise in the areas we’ve been focusing on — conflict resolution, peacebuilding, humanitarian assistance and health.
Mr. Tieku: Thank you so much for that question. So many opportunities exist. For example, people focus so much on the building of infrastructure in terms of education. That’s not where my interest is. My interest actually lies with the content of the education we are delivering on the African continent. This is one area where Canada has a comparative advantage in terms of writing really good syllabuses. A lot of Canadians don’t recognize how much conflict resolution is embedded into the primary schools and the high school systems, for example, because we take them for granted over here. Those kinds of conflict resolution mechanisms are things that the African educational system will need.
It is my sense that we are writing some of these syllabuses. A number of African countries are now reforming both primary and high schools, and this is a good opportunity for Canada. A well‑positioned Global Affairs Canada, for example, should be able to help African countries to craft these syllabuses in a way that would embed peace education within the educational system. I think there is so much opportunity.
At the university level, there is an incredible opportunity, especially where we are going with artificial intelligence and the internet, for example. It gives us an enormous opportunity. Given our internet infrastructure, for example, it gives Canadian world-class universities the opportunities to create a partnership between African and Canadian universities to deliver a first-class university education. You could have a good first-class education in a continent dominated by youth. Almost 60% of Africans are considered youth, under 25 years old. A good world-class education would be the way to go. We have the assets and the infrastructure to do it in Canada.
Senator Ravalia: I will then switch to Ms. McCallum. Can you outline for me the current work you are doing in the Sahel given the very turbulent kinds of conflicts that have been going on there recently? Is there any opportunity, particularly at the civil structure level, for Canada to partner with your group to bring peace to this region which has suffered so much volatility?
Ms. McCallum: Thank you, senator, for that question. Unfortunately, we don’t currently work in the Sahel. We are mainly in the Horn of Africa and in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and the Lakes region. But we are working in Sudan and, of course, engaging across into some of the neighbouring countries, particularly with Sudanese who have been displaced because of the war. But we are not actually engaging in the Sahel, although we would love to.
[Translation]
Senator Gerba: For years, we’ve been seeing stronger cooperation between the African Union and the UN on security and peacekeeping in Africa. Some even say that the African Union has become the point of reference for preventing and resolving conflicts in Africa. Nevertheless, the African continent, with its 54 countries, does not have a single permanent seat on the UN Security Council. Meanwhile, 70% of the UN’s peacekeeping missions are in Africa.
Do you think that is detrimental to security and peacekeeping operations? Also, given Canada’s engagement and desire to engage with Africa, could Canada ensure that Africa was better represented or help to ensure that it had representation on the Security Council?
[English]
The Acting Chair: The question is to whom?
Senator Gerba: To both of them.
The Acting Chair: Ms. McCallum, we will start with you then.
Ms. McCallum: Thank you for that question, senator. I would definitely agree that we always try to promote African solutions to African problems. When it comes to supporting the African Union, we strongly support them particularly, where possible, rather than UN missions. That would be our starting point, so I would agree with that. Of course, not having permanent African representation on the United Nations Security Council is also, I would say, a big challenge, something to be looked at in the future, although I know that’s a very difficult question.
Mr. Tieku: Senator, it looks like you are in one of my classrooms. I think you understand young Canadians very well and also young Africans. This has been one of the issues debated. For most of us, it is a question of the legitimacy of the UN Security Council. The absence of a large continent, such as the African continent, has not only created a democratic deficit within the UN Security Council, but it also undermines the UN Security Council’s own decision-making processes.
It looks like the UN often wants to cut the head off the Africans in their absence, and that’s not the way to go about it. This has been a longstanding issue. I think the usual question is, if we decide to open the tap, what would be the African representation? My answer is that the African Union at the moment has a formula. It has already made a clear decision on how it will distribute the potential permanent membership on the UN Security Council.
The African Union has changed — you are right — the dynamics of peacekeeping. At the moment, most of the UN resolutions and ideas build upon or learn from the African Union’s piece. Why are we taking ideas and sometimes building, using the African Union as a reference point, but we don’t want to give them permanent representation that would give them the voice? The UN that we created — the world that exists now is not the world of 1945.
I think we have now moved to a world where we need proper representation of all regions, not just a few regions. Thank you so much for that question.
Senator Coyle: Thank you very much to both of our witnesses here today. This has been very enlightening in a whole variety of ways. Your point about the immediate term versus longer term partnerships that are going to be required is really important. Both of you have highlighted the importance of being aware of the young population and the growing youth population of countries on the African continent and seeing young people as promoters of peace and democracy.
Now, Ms. McCallum, my first question is for you. You talked about peacebuilding, preventative peacebuilding, et cetera, and that this helps to create the conditions for sustainable economic growth. When we are talking about young people and talking about peace and about economic growth, I’m curious what you have seen in terms of the chicken or the egg. Is it that peace is the prerequisite for sustainable economic growth, or are stable economic conditions important, or are both important? Have you done some work to actually look at the building of a strong economy where all the young people have opportunities, how important that is as a precondition to peace, and the opposite, which is what I believe you had said to us? I’ll start with you, Ms. McCallum.
Ms. McCallum: Thank you, senator, for that good question. Yes, I strongly believe the youth of Africa have huge potential. In terms of the chicken or egg, I think it has to go side by side, to be honest. Every context is very different depending on the different dynamics external to the country, internal to the country and historical factors in all of that.
But I think empowering youth to engage in peacebuilding and in conflict transformation can be educational and can also give them opportunities to then open up economic opportunities for themselves.
I was just reading the evaluation of our program in Somalia where they were saying one of the biggest challenges facing young people is the economic side of things and can we add in an economic aspect to the peacebuilding work and engagement that we do providing small loans and those kinds of things.
I was just in Ethiopia. This was with women, not necessarily with youth, but we were meeting with women’s dialogue groups who were resolving conflicts in Oromia. One of the things they said is, can you help us to figure out how to do income-generating activities that can sustain us while we are also supporting peace in our communities?
We are looking into ways to integrate income generation and those types of things into the peacebuilding work we are doing, something we have never done in the past. This is just coming up, I would say, in the last couple of years of can we do both at the same time. This is not our expertise, but we have many local partners who have expertise in economic development and they do peacebuilding. So they are well equipped to bring these two areas together. And combining it, as Professor Tieku said, also with education is critical.
So I would say, let’s not say we start with peace and then have economic development; they have to go hand in hand together. We have seen some of the work we have done — by resolving the situation between two communities we have been able to enhance trade between communities and enhance economic development between those two communities in that region. There is a definite knock-on effect for economic development, but then also economic development can create opportunities for more dialogue and more peace.
Senator Coyle: Wonderful. Thank you.
Senator Woo: Thank you to our witnesses. I wonder if I can get Ms. McCallum to respond to Professor Tieku’s advocacy for the UN resolution on peacekeeping, and particularly the AU’s support and call for a different kind of peacekeeping. They call it peace enforcement. It’s sort of a kinetic kind of peacekeeping, essentially muscular peacekeeping. Would you care to comment on that? And if there is time, Professor Tieku might want to come back in on it.
Ms. McCallum: That’s a tough question. As a peace builder, I am very much for promoting nonviolent approaches to resolving conflict. That would always be my first statement. But on the other hand, there are situations where, of course, there needs to be protection of civilians, and sometimes I see the need to bring in military, more muscular approaches. But those have to be done carefully so that you don’t exacerbate ongoing tensions. That would be my response. I would prefer to start from a mediation and peacebuilding approach. But there will be situations where there has to be more protection for civilians.
Senator Woo: Professor Tieku, please.
Mr. Tieku: Thank you so much. I write on mediation, so I am by default someone who advocates for mediation. The first one for us is to think about preventative measures, first of all. Then in extreme cases where we have to get involved, my sense is that a peacekeeping operation that was conceived, that world ceased to exist at least 30 years ago. We are in a different world environment where you are going into an active combat zone, and you cannot engage in traditional peacekeeping. That’s why the African Union has moved much more to peace-support operations. The recent UN Secretary General’s report has asked for a switch or move toward peace-support operations because of the nature of the violence where you are dealing with extremists and you cannot seek their consent in most cases if you are going to use that one. That’s why I emphasize the idea of a move away to — the African Union is moving away from it and the UN is also increasingly moving toward that.
Senator Kutcher: Thank you very much to the witnesses for being here and sharing your wisdom with us. My questions are a bit more focused down and come out of over a decade of working with youth in East Africa — not in peacekeeping and peacebuilding, but in youth development, education, HIV and mental health — and seeing how all sorts of really good activities get lost in time. The first question is: Is there an easily accessible, up-to-date repository that collects youth-focused interventions that have been on the ground for a while and actually have good robust evidence that they have a positive impact? Does such a repository exist so it helps people not to reinvent the wheel?
The Acting Chair: Who is the question directed to?
Senator Kutcher: Both. Ms. McCallum but if there is [Technical difficulties].
The Acting Chair: We will start with you, Ms. McCallum, but both are welcome to answer the question.
Ms. McCallum: Thank you for that question, senator. Unfortunately, I don’t know if such a repository exists. I would love to see it as well. I think if anywhere, the African Union would have some of that evidence. I know they have some work on youth. I think that would be a good starting point and maybe encouraging them to develop something like that.
Mr. Tieku: I haven’t seen a good place where there is something of that nature. But this exists piecemeal in different pockets, so the African Union’s Youth Division has something. The Economic Community of West African States, or ECOWAS, has a little bit of that, and then there are a number of organizations that are also doing some work but I haven’t seen any. That is also an indication of the focus of peacebuilding, that we focus so much on talking to leaders and talking to governments usually, and we haven’t talked to the youth who are often the ones who are at the end of these violent conflicts or sometimes are the ones being recruited to engage in violence.
So your question is an indication of something important — we have not really placed emphasis on the youth, and we need to be able to do that if we are going to have peace on the African continent.
Senator Kutcher: Thank you very much for that. I have had some interaction with the African Union around that issue, so I appreciate your thoughts on that. Are you aware of any vehicles that exist across states or even within states in Africa that assist people to scale up projects that are successful. For example, youth-focus projects, whatever area they are in, is there a mechanism that takes projects that have been very successful — for example, I did one in northern Uganda where the Lord’s Resistance Army was wreaking havoc — and scale those up in other parts of the continent? Are you aware of any vehicles that are available for that activity, that kind of work?
Mr. Tieku: Just a quick one. The one that I’m aware of, I think ECOWAS has been talking about drawing lessons from the various peace initiatives and scaling it up. I think if you can have a conversation with ECOWAS, that would be helpful. I think the African Union, too, has been talking about it, but I still haven’t seen a fully fledged in that kind of framework that identifies most of the wonderful projects that are ongoing at the local level. But there are a number of local projects that are ongoing, and I think it would be good for us to do lessons learned and see how we can scale them up.
The Acting Chair: Thank you.
[Translation]
Senator Gerba: My question is for Professor Tieku. UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on women, peace and security was the first resolution recognizing the fact that armed conflicts have different and disproportionate impacts on women and girls. It calls for women to be more involved in peace processes, especially given all the literature showing that, when women are involved, they focus more on conflict resolution and work towards much more lasting solutions. What can we do now to give women a greater role in the conflict resolution process? How can Canada contribute to that?
[English]
Mr. Tieku: Excellent question. I think the UN Security Council’s resolution 1325 is an important one. I think one way that Canada can really help, especially building on its feminist foreign policy, is to empower especially young girls to get involved in mediation. I think we have done well bringing women into the mediation process, but I think the emphasis has always been on very elite women. I think bringing in the younger ones and giving them access to participate is very important.
Second, I think we also tend to be very capital centric and therefore we tend to identify women in urban spaces. I think bringing in local women in rural areas as they are the ones who are often at the end of these conflicts. Bring them in. In some cases, you don’t have to build your capacity. They know how to resolve conflict in their local communities. Sometimes you just need to give them the space to be able to do it. I think that should be the level. Younger women and women in the rural areas I think should be the focus of the next generation of pursuing agenda 1325. Thank you so much.
The Acting Chair: Ms. McCallum, I saw your head nodding. Is there anything you would like to add?
Ms. McCallum: No. I think Professor Tieku really hit the nail on the head. I think engaging not just elite women but we have seen again and again engaging with women who are excluded from processes. It’s not that they are not involved in peacebuilding. They are there. They have skills. They have knowledge. It is not always knowledge that is appreciated. But when you start to tap in and learn from them and their traditional mechanisms of peacebuilding and conflict transformation, there are huge opportunities. They are ready and willing, particularly the young women.
I worked in South Sudan for many years, and I was gone for a decade. When I went back after a decade, after seeing the support of the women’s movement and the young women and how dynamic they are in just a decade. They are doing incredible things in a very difficult country context. The really hopeful thing that I saw in that country after being away for 10 years is the women, their passion and expertise. I think women and the youth, young women particularly, are the way to go forward in supporting peace on the continent.
The Acting Chair: Thank you very much. Senators, we have four more questioners so I should watch the time.
Senator Coyle: I had wanted to ask Professor Tieku also a question and it builds a little bit on what my colleague, Senator Kutcher, was asking about. You spoke about how Canada doesn’t need to reinvent the wheel. We don’t want to reinvent the wheel. You say there are a lot of good things going on that could be supported. I’m curious to hear from you three things: First of all, can you tell us some examples of those good things that are going on and how Canada should support those, because there are different ways of supporting? Second, are there some things you have seen Canada do in the past that it no longer does, that you think it shouldn’t have gotten out of in the first place and it should return to? Third, examples of other countries that have been successful in these kinds of partnerships that are useful to achieving the kinds of impacts we are all interested in.
Mr. Tieku: Thank you so much for that question. As I said, we shouldn’t reinvent the wheel, because sometimes our attempt to reinvent the wheel creates more problems than solutions. Sometimes Africans will come with a solution and then we will come out a solution, and because they look up to us in some cases their government tends to set their own priorities aside and follow us and in most cases end up nowhere.
Number one, in terms of a policy framework the ideas are already there. If you look at the African Union, if you look at ECOWAS, almost all the [Technical difficulties] they have really good ideas on the table. The challenge is implementing those ideas. One thing that I think Canada would be good at is once we come up with something, our implementation level is very high. I think the African Union indicated that almost 80% of the things that are agreed upon are not implemented, whereas the opposite is true in Canada. So that’s one area, implementation.
The second thing that I think Canada has done well, and I wish Canada would do more of, is quiet diplomacy. Norway has done well. Finland has done really well. We have an incredible amount of diplomats — even some of the retired ones — who can bring African countries together or the parties together for a negotiated settlement. This is something we can do and we should do and it is very quiet. Particularly on political transitions, every election in Africa is very hard. So making sure you set up a back channel process to ensure that yes, the winner takes all but the party that will lose is comfortable and then agree that I’m going to have my turn next time, is going to be very important going forward.
Things Canada has done and should have done, CIDA used to do wonderful things, creating bore holes in rural areas. I think we stopped doing it. I think this would be something we can go into. More importantly, I think we should identify one or two things where we have comparative advantage and do it well. The Canada Fund for Africa, for example. I am hoping that with us hosting the G7 again will create another Canada Fund for Africa. If you look at the statistics, it is amazing the work that it did. A lot of Canadians don’t know this, so let me get a plug in. At the moment, the African Continental Free Trade Area that has been created, a lot of Canadians don’t know that it was the Canada Fund for Africa that gave money to the AU, that did all the intellectual work that provided the foundation for the creation of the largest continental free trade area since the WTO.
The Acting Chair: Thank you, professor.
Senator Woo: My question is for Professor Tieku. I wonder if you can give us a tour d’horizon of African expertise in this country. What is the nature of African scholarship in Canada? Do we have enough of it? What kinds of recent investments have we seen at universities, your own and others? How can we build capacity in this country and in Africa?
Mr. Tieku: Thank you so much. We haven’t done the study, but I was talking to my colleague in the medical school at McMaster, who is the chair of the medical school. One of the things we have realized in the medical field, as well as in social sciences, is that a Canadian-educated Canadian tends to do really well, especially when they go to Africa. There are a few of them on the African continent, but then you go there and they are very high up. We haven’t done the study yet, but I think we need to study why Canadians do really well, especially when they go back home. In other words, what I am trying to suggest is that Canadian education is very good when Africans have it, and I think they are able to make something more meaningful for themselves and for the society in which they live.
Also, my sense is we can do more. My sense is that we have an incredible education system, but we still have the perception somehow that maybe when Africans come here, they don’t do well. But if you look at the records, in terms of African students who come here as graduate students, even undergraduate students, if you look at the statistics, it is very good. Therefore, open it up. Bring Africans here. A number of them will go back, and when they go back home, they do very well. If they stay here like me, they can also contribute to the Canadian economy, and sometimes people don’t realize how much they also contribute back home.
Senator Woo: It is a little different. It is more about Africa experts in Canada. What is the state of our African expertise in Canada?
Mr. Tieku: Unfortunately, we are very few. I think a number of universities don’t have very strong, unlike the U.S. or even the U.K. — we would do well to invest in making sure we understand Africa very well. We don’t have a lot of people.
Senator Woo: Thank you.
Senator Ravalia: My question is for Professor Tieku again. Health is an important factor in attaining long-term economic development and peace. Professor, are you able to highlight any areas where the advancement of health initiatives within the continent has positively impacted health outcomes, and is this an area where we as Canadians could partner accordingly? I’m thinking particularly of the vaccine deficit during the pandemic, but also the level of intellect that exists on the continent. For example, the South African Institute for Medical Research that was the first body globally to come out with the COVID variant picture. How can Africa become independent of outside resources for its health?
Mr. Tieku: Thank you so much for that question. Health is one area that is so important. We also have a comparative advantage particularly within the universities. Just across my office here, we have an incredible program, Western Heads East, where we build really good relationships with universities, especially the university of my colleague in Uganda, for example, in terms of doing cutting-edge research on vaccines, on a number of health issues. We can invest in those by ensuring that our research labs are available to collaborate with African universities. That’s one way of doing it.
I will also return to Canada Fund for Africa, for example. The Canada Fund for Africa played an instrumental role in the fight against polio and against HIV. And it wasn’t big money. It was a small pocket of money. But if you look at it in terms of assessment, it had an incredible impact on health in the area, and I think this is something that we can do so.
To answer your question, we have to create a space where our universities and the wonderful research labs that we have here can partner with African universities in creating the new generation of medical supplies and research and so on, so that can address some of the diseases and health that is on the African continent.
The second one is we can also help build independent capacity of African countries in the area of health. As I said, Canada, the fund that we provided played a role, and we can do more. The money involved is not a lot, if we actually look at the money involved, compared to the amount of money we spend sometimes on peacekeeping operations and so forth. It is a very minuscule amount, but its impact is great.
Senator Ravalia: Thank you very much.
Senator Kutcher: Professor Tieku, a number of people around this table have done institution-to-institution post-secondary work in various parts of Africa, but it tends to be one-offs, and it is usually serendipity how you get in touch with each other. Is there any structure that Canada has that is tasked with identifying, promoting and supporting such post-secondary collaborations, and if there isn’t, should there be one?
Mr. Tieku: We don’t have a very systematic way of engaging with African institutions. It usually depends on the interest of the universities. For example, we have a good relationship with East African universities, so that is why I think our health, medical school and then the global health program have a really good relationship with them. My sense is we can do more. For example, through our Social Science Research Council, or SSRC, we can create a parallel line, encouraging Canadian universities to build relationships with the African continent.
By the way, those relationships are mutual. Some of the research that has been done on the African continent has been really beneficial to Canadians in terms of — if you look at some of the work my colleagues have done in terms of Western Heads East. We need to create it, and it has to be more systematic and more driven by the federal government. But the money has to be put in there. The universities themselves will not do it unless you encourage them to do it. Otherwise, it is only one-off, episodic, and just personalized, and I think we need a much more institutionalized approach to it.
Senator Kutcher: Thank you.
The Acting Chair: Thank you very much. Are you finished, Senator Kutcher? Any follow-up? No? You’re good?
Senator Kutcher: I would agree with him.
The Acting Chair: Perfect. Well, let me then take the opportunity to thank our witnesses for joining us today and providing very concise and very informative answers. We are deeply grateful for your participation.
Senators, if there is nothing else, we will adjourn.
(The committee adjourned.)