Minister Monsef concludes successful G7 development ministerial meetings in Paris and announces support to improve access to education for women and girls

July 5, 2019 - Paris, France - Global Affairs Canada

Canada is committed to advancing gender equality and ensuring that girls, adolescent girls and women have access to quality education, especially in conflict and crisis situations.

On July 4 to 5, 2019, the Honourable Maryam Monsef, Minister of International Development and Minister for Women and Gender Equality, attended G7 development ministerial meetings in Paris, France, where she met with her development counterparts and with education ministers from other G7 countries. The Minister discussed ways to fight inequality and reiterated the importance of gender equality and women’s economic empowerment to build a more peaceful, more inclusive and more prosperous world.

While in Paris, Minister Monsef also met with education and finance ministers from the G5 Sahel countries and Senegal and announced 25 new education projects, predominantly in sub-Saharan Africa. These projects are aligned with the Charlevoix Declaration on Quality Education for Girls, Adolescent Girls and Women in Developing Countries, a key outcome of the 2018 G7 Summit in Charlevoix. These projects aim to dismantle barriers and improve women and girls’ equitable access to a quality education; to invest in quality education systems; and to support skills development and sex-disaggregated education and gender equality data, especially for women and girls in fragile, conflict and crisis situations, including in refugee-hosting countries. The results will lead to improved learning outcomes and employability among women, adolescent girls and girls, including those with disabilities.

These projects will adopt a safe and inclusive education approach that will advance gender equality and support the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. The projects demonstrate strong alignment with Canada’s Feminist International Assistance Policy and its six action areas.

Over the course of the two days of meetings, the G7 development heads of delegations endorsed four declarations calling for attention to gender equality and youth and women in fragile and conflict-affected states, particularly in the Sahel. Ministers emphasized the need for strong partnerships and innovative approaches to tackle fragility, poverty and financing for sustainable development, and to enhance the effectiveness of G7 development cooperation efforts, with a focus on rural youth employment in the Sahel region. They also released three joint declarations on education focusing on advancing gender-responsive education-sector planning, ensuring greater coordination on technical vocational education and training, and bringing greater attention to the education challenges facing girls and boys in the Sahel.