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Question 6: SecurityShould Canada do more to address conditions giving rise to conflict and
insecurity beyond our borders? If so, where?
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| Contributor: | 1906 |
| Date: |
2003-05-01 17:18:50 |
| Answer: |
Yes. Probably the area of most urgent need is Africa. This includes West Africa, the Horn of Africa, Sudan, the Congo and neighbouring central African states.
Much of the problem in Africa stems from the twin devastations of debt and HIV/AIDS. Both have strained the capacity of governments to function effectively and created desperate conflicts over the allocation and control of resources needed for foreign exchange and investment.
Many African nations (as well as some others) need to be relieved of the burden of debt without the overly stringent conditions and delays of the HIPC process. They need to be assured of the resources to rebuild educational and medical systems, to sustain a viable civil service and community policing forces not tied to the military, and the infrastructure to insure access to local and foreign markets. They need an international economic system which will sustain the value of the commodities they rely on for the livelihood of their citizens, and fairer access to the markets of developed countries for their goods, especially semi-processed and processed goods.
They need assistance in dealing with the HIV/AIDS pandemic and its impact. They need available medical treatment at reasonable cost. They need support for HIV/AIDS education, and for the training of young people to replace the skilled and productive people lost to this disease.
Another need in Africa is to de-fuse the tensions between religious and ethnnic groups. Canada, as host of many African immigrant groups, can play a significant role in bringing together people of different religions and ethnicity together on safe, neutral ground to discuss their differences and plan joint action to combat inter-ethnic and/or inter-religious conflict such as we have seen in Nigeria, Rwanda and Sudan. |
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