Thank you for the invitation to be here today.

It is not acceptable that, in 2024, Canada does not have a national mechanism to monitor compliance with its international human rights commitments and ensure implementation of treaty body and UPR recommendations. Canada needs a framework of law, policy and programs, as described by Alex Neve, to guide and ensure its compliance with international human rights law. Canada needs this urgently.

The Feminist Alliance for International Action, which I represent today, was formed in 1997 with the specific goal of ensuring that the rights of women set out in the international human rights treaties Canada ratified become real in the lives of women in Canada. We believe these rights matter. Fulfilling them matters to the lives of women and the health of the country.

We need international human rights treaties in addition to the charter and human rights codes, because international human rights law fills many gaps. It provides a full and comprehensive set of human rights protections that our domestic legislation does not, including commitments to an adequate standard of living and due diligence on the part of governments to protect women from male violence.

Since 1997, FAFIA has participated in almost every review of Canada by treaty bodies and in the four cycles of the universal periodic review. We have repeatedly urged our governments to develop mechanisms and procedures for implementing the recommendations that emerge from these reviews so that we can move forward, solve problems, improve lives and repair harms. However, we and our many human rights colleagues have not been successful in persuading Canada to create an effective domestic mechanism to support the implementation of recommendations and the fulfillment of rights.

The importance of what happens after reviews is freshly before us due to recommendations not just from the UPR but also from the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women. A week ago, on October 29, CEDAW issued the concluding observations after its 10th review of Canada's compliance with the CEDAW convention. This was a review marked by the high attendance of indigenous, racialized and young women. There are many recommendations from CEDAW that, if implemented, would make a marked difference in their lives. They have hopes.

Prominent among its many strong recommendations—