{"time": "2021-02-02 16:00:00", "attribution": {"en": "Mr. St\u00e9phane Bergeron (Montarville, BQ)", "fr": "M. St\u00e9phane Bergeron (Montarville, BQ)"}, "content": {"en": "

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

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I want to thank the witnesses for their presentations, which are informing this committee's work.

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We know that the situation of children in crisis and war zones is extremely problematic. Those issues are multifaceted, and we are increasingly realizing that the current situation related to COVID-19 is exacerbating those already significant problems.

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We know that children are less affected by COVID-19 than older people. We also know that, in crisis and war zones, other factors that afflict children\u2014such as malnutrition and lack of care\u2014are exacerbating the impact of COVID-19.

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This said, we know that some of the available vaccines must be stored at very low temperatures, which makes their administration extremely complicated. In the meantime, we hope that people will be able to apply minimum sanitation measures to avoid being infected by the virus.

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However, according to a UNICEF study, 40% of the global population lack the facilities for washing hands with soap and water. Yet we know full well that one of the first rules being repeated since the beginning of the pandemic is to frequently wash hands with soap and fresh water. However, we are seeing that this is simply impossible in many cases.

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How can adequate access to drinking water be ensured? This is already a significant problem under normal circumstances for people living in crisis zones or war zones. And now the COVID-19 crisis is further complicating matters on the ground.

", "fr": "

Merci, monsieur le pr\u00e9sident.

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Je tiens \u00e0 remercier les t\u00e9moins de leurs pr\u00e9sentations fort \u00e9clairantes pour les travaux de ce comit\u00e9.

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On sait d'embl\u00e9e que la situation des enfants dans les zones de crise et les zones de guerre est extr\u00eamement probl\u00e9matique. En fait, ces probl\u00e8mes comportent de multiples facettes, et on r\u00e9alise de plus en plus que la situation actuelle li\u00e9e \u00e0 la COVID-19 exacerbe ces probl\u00e8mes d\u00e9j\u00e0 importants.

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On sait que les enfants sont moins touch\u00e9s par la COVID-19 que ne le sont les personnes plus \u00e2g\u00e9es. On sait par ailleurs que, dans les zones de crise et les zones de guerre, les autres facteurs dont souffrent les enfants, comme la malnutrition et le manque de soins, accentuent les effets de la COVID-19.

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Cela dit, on sait que certains des vaccins disponibles requi\u00e8rent un entreposage \u00e0 des temp\u00e9ratures tr\u00e8s basses, ce qui rend extr\u00eamement compliqu\u00e9e l'administration des vaccins. Dans l'intervalle, on esp\u00e8re que les gens seront en mesure d'appliquer les mesures minimales d'hygi\u00e8ne pour \u00e9viter d'\u00eatre infect\u00e9s par le virus.

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Or, selon une \u00e9tude d'UNICEF, 40 % de la population mondiale n'a pas d'installations pour se laver les mains \u00e0 l'eau et au savon. Pourtant, on sait pertinemment que l'une des premi\u00e8res r\u00e8gles qu'on r\u00e9p\u00e8te depuis le d\u00e9but de la pand\u00e9mie, c'est de se laver fr\u00e9quemment les mains \u00e0 l'eau fra\u00eeche et au savon. On constate cependant que, dans bien des cas, ce n'est tout simplement pas possible.

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Comment assurer un acc\u00e8s ad\u00e9quat \u00e0 l'eau potable? C'est d\u00e9j\u00e0 un probl\u00e8me important en temps normal pour les populations en zone de crise ou en zone de guerre. Or voil\u00e0 que la crise de la COVID-19 vient compliquer encore plus les choses sur le terrain.

"}, "url": "/committees/foreign-affairs/43-2/15/stephane-bergeron-1/", "politician_url": "/politicians/stephane-bergeron/", "politician_membership_url": "/politicians/memberships/4542/", "procedural": false, "source_id": "11112270", "document_url": "/committees/foreign-affairs/43-2/15/", "related": {"document_speeches_url": "/speeches/?document=%2Fcommittees%2Fforeign-affairs%2F43-2%2F15%2F"}}