Sorca Clarke (Longford-Westmeath, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank our guests. I apologise for needing to step out. I find it somewhat ironic to have to leave a meeting on gender-based violence to go to a briefing on gender equality because we have an Oireachtas Committee on Gender Equality on the back of the Citizens' Assembly that reported last year.

I think Mr. Sadlier touched on this somewhat when he spoke of those polarising conversations that need to be had and the good work that can come out of them, but where international agreements meet and overlap somewhat with domestic policy, particularly around the aspect of equality, how does he see that working on the ground? Internationally, we may have a vision of where we want access to education, laws applied or representation figures, but how do we bridge that? How do we nudge forward what the international community sees as best practice in a way that is culturally appropriate to the countries in which the NGOs operate?

Second, 20 years on, what progress do the witnesses think has still to be made? We know that good steps have been taken in some areas, and they need to be recognised, but there are other areas where perhaps the anticipated progress has not quite got there yet. In what areas is that the case, and what work do the witnesses see as needing to happen to reach those anticipated outcomes?

The third area I wish to focus on is gender-based and sexual violence as a weapon of war. In the witnesses' experience, what is the prevalence of reporting, not of experiencing? What, then, are the barriers to reporting and to conviction? Ultimately, what are the training needs of the NGOs on the ground or those points of first contact with somebody who has experienced gender-based or sexual violence as a weapon of war? I would also like the witnesses to give us a little more information on where conflict overlaps with environment. As to how we approach that, climate change is changing all the time and its repercussions are changing. What impact does that have on the work the witnesses do on the ground? Does it change their approach to certain things? Do they find themselves needing to target more specific resources into certain areas?

The last topic I wish to touch on is the exploitation of children. Unfortunately, we see a large number of unaccompanied minors coming from all areas of conflict. What involvement do the witnesses have with children who then become unidentifiable or perhaps missing in the system? What involvement do they have with international or state agencies in ensuring that those children are then returned to a point of safety?