Canada invests in women

Justin Trudeau interracting with participants. Photos by Hope Mafaranga

Advancing gender equality is essential to strengthen the middle class, grow the economy and build a better world.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced that the Government of Canada will increase its funding to support the health of women and girls around the world to $ 1.4 billion per year, in a period of 10 years.

He also announced an $ 700 million annual investment to be allocated to support the rights to sexual and reproductive health.

"With this investment, Canada is committed to supporting them as well as the health of mothers, newborns and children," he said.

The Prime Minister made the announcement on Tuesday at the ongoing Women Deliver 2019 conference at Vancouver Convention Center in Canada. 

 Katja Iversen interracting with participants

He said the investment will help advance sustainable development programme in 2030 and promote the rights to sexual and reproductive health.

"We will continue to fund and support the international arena in the field of gender equality to ensure that many women and girls  have access to quality health services they need. We will also help to protect the right of women to control their bodies and make their own decisions and this funding, will  provide comprehensive sex education, improving the health of mothers and around the world, he said. 

 Katja Iversen

The Women Deliver conference is the largest global gathering on health, rights and welfare of women and girls.

The Prime Minister stressed the hard work and leadership of activists in the field of gender equality. 

During the conference, the Prime Minister met with the President of Ghana, Nana Akufo-Addo, the President of Kenya, Uhuru Kenyatta and President of Ethiopia, Sahle-Work Zewde. He also met with activists and local feminist organisations. 

 The entertainment team

Citations 
" As a government, we have to be your partner and ally. All women, no matter where they live, should have access to safe health and quality care. Therefore, we invest in health and sexual and reproductive rights of women and girls, as well as the health of mothers, newborns and children so that we can build a more just, more equal and more prosperous," Trudeau said.

This is the not the first time Canada is funding such intervention. In March 2017, Canada announced an investment of $ 650 million over three years to address women's rights-related deficiencies and their sexual and reproductive health worldwide.

 
Katja Iversen, President and CEO of Women Deliver said the conference is held every three years, the Women Deliver conference is the largest global gathering on health, rights and welfare of women and girls. The theme this year is "Power, progress, change.

 Diana Nambatya at the conference

"Every two minutes, a woman dies from complications of pregnancy or childbirth. Most of these deaths are preventable. In developing country 214 million women lack access to modern contraceptives. Each year, 25 million abortions are performed in unsafe conditions due to the stigma and restrictions on access to safe medical treatment," she said.

 

Responding to the funding announcement of the Canadian Prime Minister, the WaterAid Canada's Chief Executive Officer, Nicole Hurtubise welcomed the new commitment from the Government of Canada of a ten-year annual investment of $1.4bn beginning in 2023, towards improving the health and rights of women, adolescents and children around the world.

 

Hurtubise however said the world will not achieve gender equality without addressing the lack of access to the basic human rights of water, sanitation and hygiene which millions of women and girls around the world live without.

 

"Achieving this ambitious vision will require improvements in access to water, sanitation and hygiene for all women and girls everywhere. This includes in healthcare facilities so that mothers and new-borns are protected from infections, and in schools so that girls can manage their menstrual period with the dignity they deserve," Hurtubise said.

 Winnie Byanyima at the conference

Winnie Byanyima the executive director of Oxfam International called for the equal pay for equal work, saying that women are crushed at the bottom and are denied an opportunity on the decision-making table.

"When women are absent in decision making, it is not democracy. How can you call a government that has 21 percent in its decision-making democracy? The discrepancy has a negative impact on attaining gender equality," the former Mbarara Municipality Member of Parliament said.