August 22, 2014 - Ottawa, Ontario
Check Against Delivery
Good afternoon everyone. Thank you all for coming, and thank you, Roy, for that warm welcome.
It’s an honour to be here today to make an important announcement regarding humanitarian assistance to some of the world’s most desperate people. In 2013, 11.7 million people around the globe lived as refugees, and more than 33 million were displaced within their own countries.
Among the most vulnerable are women and children. They live with fear for their security.
Many were forced to flee their homes and sources of livelihood, taking few possessions with them.
But I am proud to say that our country is committed to protecting and assisting people who continue to suffer because of conflict and civil unrest in developing countries.
Canada is a leader in providing humanitarian assistance to vulnerable populations around the world.
Compassion and generosity embody the value that Canada places on its international assistance—whether this in the form of long-term programming designed to help more people move from poverty to prosperity, or in the provision of humanitarian assistance, whenever and wherever it is required.
We make this commitment for many reasons, but most of all, because it is an expression of our values, as Canadians, to assist those in far-off corners of the world who are without the means to overcome the challenges they face.
Our government has a principled foreign policy that represents these values, and saving the lives of vulnerable women and children is one of the clearest expressions of Canadian values.
As you know, at the Saving Every Woman, Every Child summit in Toronto last May, Prime Minister Harper released the Toronto Statement, which laid the groundwork to end the preventable deaths of mothers, newborns and children under the age of five within a generation, and committed an additional $3.5 billion in support.
One way that we answer the call for help to women and children is to assist those who are affected by crises in developing countries. We do this by supporting experienced humanitarian partners like Médecins Sans Frontières.
In Ethiopia, for example, MSF is on the ground working to provide access to much-needed medical care for vulnerable people affected by insecurity and conflict in the Somali region of the country.
By providing a wide range of medical services, including access to a maternity ward and related services, they ensure that mothers and children will have a chance at a future, despite the desperate circumstances in which they may be living.
The Somali region of Ethiopia faces significant humanitarian challenges, including chronic drought, a long-running—if low-intensity—conflict between the government and separatist forces, and the existence of a large population of Somali refugees on its soil.
All of these factors tax local resources and the ability of the population to feed and support itself.
All of this has left the region with some of the worst health indicators in the world.
As for the children in the region, an estimated 85 percent suffer from anemia and only 8 percent receive full vaccinations. Last year, new cases of polio were diagnosed for the first time in seven years here, and tuberculosis is also an issue.
You may also be interested to know that only 3.8 percent of women who give birth in Ethiopia’s Somali region have access to postnatal health care, compared to the national average of 42 percent.
This lack of services has left women and children even more vulnerable in these already risky circumstances.
Canada has recently confirmed Ethiopia as a country of focus for our international development efforts, with a broad aim toward alleviating poverty.
And when there is a call for additional humanitarian help when it is desperately needed, Canada acts quickly and appropriately.
We have been a consistent supporter of humanitarian organizations, helping to provide food, water and sanitation, health care, emergency shelter, and protection for the most vulnerable people, including children.
That is why today, on behalf of the Honourable Christian Paradis, Minister of International Development and La Francophonie, I am pleased to announce that Canada has contributed $1.5 million to Médecins Sans Frontières for their work in Ethiopia.
This funding will support its operations in the Somali region of Ethiopia and help improve access to basic health care services for an estimated 478,000 people.
Through its support to local hospitals and health centres, as well as outreach to remote communities, MSF will provide access to reproductive health and paediatrics services, treatment for malnutrition, and immunization for children under five years old.
They will also provide emergency triage, psychosocial care for survivors of sexual and gender-based violence, as well as tuberculosis diagnoses and treatment for those who need it.
In this remote, underserviced and insecure corner of Ethiopia, MSF is one of the only providers of medical services for a distressed population.
Canada’s support to MSF will help ensure that families get what they need to survive.
In closing, I can assure all of you that Canada will continue to respond to the needs of families facing humanitarian crises in the developing world.
Thank you. Merci.
