Realizing Human Potential

Realizing human potential involves creating the conditions required so that all individuals can have more opportunities to develop their potential and contribute to the development of the societies in which they live and work. That means giving them the tools to develop and compete. The objective is to promote inclusion by empowering groups-youth, women, Indigenous peoples, the poor and disabled-who are often forced to the margins of society.

An Education Agenda of the Americas

The Quebec City Plan of Action opened a new chapter in the history of education in the Americas. It set a new Hemispheric education agenda that will focus efforts to reduce poverty, promote economic growth, further develop democratic institutions and advance human potential.

In Uruguay in September 2001, at their second meeting, Ministers of Education adopted a Declaration Against Violence and also agreed to create an Inter-American Committee on Education. This will coordinate the development and implementation of Hemispheric actions of partnership enabling all countries to achieve the education goals identified by Leaders within the framework of the Summit of the Americas. Ministers will meet again in August 2003 in Mexico to review progress.

In the interim, Canada is helping countries in Latin America and the Caribbean improve the quality of education through training and upgrading for teachers and school administrators. Canada is providing CDN$5 million over five years to help train elementary school teachers in rural areas of northern Peru in order to improve the quality of schooling for poorer, rural communities. In Guatemala, Canada has supported a reform project to improve the national education curriculum and upgrade textbooks at the elementary and secondary levels. A key aspect of this work is finding ways to reduce discrimination against Indigenous peoples.

Canada is also supporting the Inter-American Organization for Higher Education, based in Quebec City, with its College of the Americas program linking post-secondary institutions across the Americas. In addition, Canada is providing CDN$5 million to four Latin American universities; the funds support their joint efforts to develop entrepreneurship through local cooperatives that are meant to become self-sustaining.

Promoting Health Across the Hemisphere

Canada has one of the best health care systems in the world, providing high-quality health care services based on need, not the ability to pay. Canada is working with its Hemispheric neighbours to improve health services in their countries. In fact, dealing with health-related issues cooperatively is in everyone's interests in an era of unprecedented movement of people and goods across borders, when global environmental health issues are of concern to all. As noted earlier, in March 2002 Canada hosted a meeting of Ministers of Health and Ministers of Environment from across the Hemisphere as a follow-up to the Quebec City Summit Plan of Action. The objective was to foster a new spirit of cooperation, with increased levels of technical support and targeted development assistance.

In the Americas, Canada works directly with other countries and also with the Pan American Health Organization to provide Canadian technical and scientific expertise that helps address a wide variety of issues, including HIV/AIDS, tobacco control, Indigenous health problems, improvements in laboratories and health surveillance systems. Among the projects that Canada has developed in coordination with PAHO are the following: a Canada-Costa Rica project on women's health policies; the Latin-American/Caribbean-Canada project on surveillance of anti-microbial resistances; and the Mexico-Canada project on healthy ageing. Canada supports PAHO in its efforts to prevent and control communicable diseases in South America and Haiti. Canada has also signed an agreement with the United States to work more cooperatively on health concerns relating to Indigenous populations.

Canada is involved in community health care projects together with the Canadian Red Cross Society in Honduras and Nicaragua. These strengthen the capacities of local Red Cross societies to assist local ministries of health in delivering primary health care services to people most in need. The Government of Canada also works with the Newfoundland Centre for Nursing Studies, using distance education technology to train new primary health care nurses in El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua.

Hemispheric Development

The Quebec City Plan of Action represented a broad consensus on the priority development issues facing the Americas. Canada is committed to being an active partner in addressing those concerns. It is working with partners from intergovernmental organizations, governments, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and the private sector to fulfill commitments made in Quebec City.

Canada's development program is working with developing countries in the Americas to reduce poverty and improve equity. The program reflects the multi-faceted nature of the challenges facing the region. In some countries, the focus is on supporting human rights, democracy and the effective participation of citizens in the decisions that affect them. In other nations, the emphasis is on public sector reform, improving the delivery of basic social services, and increasing the productive and earning capacity of the poor. Activities stress the need to empower vulnerable groups-such as women, children and Indigenous peoples-so that they can participate more actively in the social, political, economic and environmentally sustainable development of their societies. Since the Summit, Canada's development cooperation program has committed CDN$420 million in financial and technical support to some 120 development projects related to the Summit Plan of Action.

Throughout Latin America and the Caribbean, Canada is facilitating the transfer of Canadian knowledge and approaches to partner organizations that are capable of adapting such know-how to meet pressing development challenges.

Canada is working closely with other donor countries to help Honduras implement its Poverty Reduction Strategy, a comprehensive plan developed by the Hondurans to promote their own development. Canada is providing resources to six funds being managed locally to advance sustainable development in agriculture, forestry, environment, health, and water sanitation.

In Bolivia, Canada is supporting the country's efforts to reduce poverty and improve the quality of life of poor Bolivians. Sectoral priorities are health, water and sanitation, and government modernization; gender equality and sustainable development are cross-cutting themes.

Canada is also contributing to a social development fund in Haiti to help the most disadvantaged people access high-quality services for health and nutrition, basic education, and measures combatting HIV/AIDS. Canada is working in the Commonwealth Caribbean to improve the ability of key local and regional organizations to combat HIV/AIDS, and has committed CDN$20 million to this effort.

An example of increasing regional cooperation is provided by the Inter-American Agency for Cooperation and Development of the OAS. Canada was a leader in the establishment of the Agency in 2000 and remains active on its Management Board. The Agency has adopted the priorities of gender equality, environment, civil society participation and results-based programming. Three quarters of its budget supports projects in the fields of education, social development and employment creation in the Hemisphere.

Another regional initiative is the Eastern Caribbean Economic Management Program. This is building the capacity of key national and regional institutions in the Caribbean to better manage government spending, taxation and financial policies.

Promoting Gender Equality Across the Hemisphere

At Quebec City, the Leaders endorsed the Inter-American Program on the Promotion of Women's Human Rights and Gender Equity and Equality. They committed to advancing gender equality through various activities, including: strengthening national machineries responsible for the advancement of women; integrating a gender perspective into all OAS organs and agencies; and promoting women's human rights by strengthening and fostering women's full and equal participation in political life and decision making at all levels in their countries.

Canada actively promotes gender equality at the domestic and international level, not only as a human rights issue but as an essential component of democratic development. True development will be achieved only if women are able to participate as equal partners, decision makers and beneficiaries of the development of their societies. These principles are explicitly recognized in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW).

Canadian efforts focus on three key goals: improving women's economic autonomy and well-being; eliminating systemic violence against women and children; and advancing women's overall human rights.

At home, the Government of Canada adopted the Agenda for Gender Equality in 2000. The Agenda aims to enhance voluntary sector capacity, engage Canadians in the policy process, undertake and promote gender-based analysis, address critical gaps that prevent the further advancement of gender equality, and meet Canada's international commitments with respect to gender equality. For instance, the Gender-Based Analysis (GBA) training program developed in 2001 has trained federal and provincial government employees and some NGOs in GBA. Further, since 1999 approximately CDN$10 million has been invested annually to support civil society activities seeking to improve women's economic status, eliminate violence against women and children, and advance issues of social justice.

At the hemispheric level, Canada is also active in promoting women's human rights and economic autonomy. For example, for the period 2002-04 Canada is serving as Vice-President of the Executive Committee of the Inter-American Commission of Women (CIM), and it supports the role of the CIM as the primary policy-making body on women's human rights and gender equality in the inter-American system. Canada has provided CDN$500,000 for a gender mainstreaming training program with the OAS General Secretariat.

In October 2002, Canada acceded to the CEDAW Optional Protocol, which provides an additional mechanism for Canadians to advance their human rights.

Working Together: The Indigenous Peoples of the Americas

The Quebec City Summit Declaration and Plan of Action focused the attention of governments within the Americas on the importance of Indigenous issues. As Chair of the Summit process, Canada persuaded its partners to provide strong support for the Indigenous Summit, which took place in the lead-up to Quebec City. The event provided Indigenous peoples from across the Hemisphere with an opportunity to prepare a declaration; this was then circulated to Leaders at the Quebec City Summit.

The Government of Canada has engaged a number of governments in the region through bilateral visits to exchange best practices and lessons learned in areas such as land claims, economic development, Aboriginal justice, bilingual education and connectivity. The Government of Canada continues to work with other states and Indigenous peoples to prepare the Draft American Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

The Government of Canada also hosted the second annual Connecting Aboriginal Canadians Forum in March 2003. Fifty Indigenous representatives from Latin America were present at the event and had an opportunity to share best practices and lessons learned in the area of connectivity with Aboriginal and government representatives from Canada.

Canada has meanwhile promoted the expansion of trade and economic development, and the fostering of economic, social and cultural cooperation between Canadian and other Indigenous communities of the Americas. In particular, in January 2003 Canada launched the Indigenous Peoples Partnership Programme (IPPP); this will provide up to CDN$10 million over a four-year pilot period to support development partnerships between Indigenous peoples in Canada and those in other countries, initially in the Americas region. The IPPP has the following goals: to increase the development capacity of Indigenous peoples in Latin America and the Caribbean, and of the entities dealing with them; to increase the international development expertise of Canadian Aboriginal entities; and to foster sustainable partnerships between Aboriginal peoples in Canada and Indigenous peoples in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Fostering a Culturally Diverse Hemisphere

Since the Quebec City Summit, Canada has played a leading role in advancing cultural policies in the Americas.

As part of the implementation of the Quebec City Plan of Action, Canada has hosted two Meetings of Experts on Culture-one in Vancouver, British Columbia, in March 2002 and one in Halifax, Nova Scotia, in March 2003. These seminars brought together representatives of governments, multilateral institutions, civil society organizations and cultural industries from Canada and the rest of the Hemisphere to exchange views and discuss and share strategies that would contribute to the preservation and promotion of cultural diversity in the Americas.

In close partnership with Colombia, Canada played a leading role in preparations for the first Hemispheric Meeting of Ministers of Culture, held in Cartagena, Colombia, in July 2002.

The Summit of the Americas process helped advance the fight against performance-enhancing drug use by competitive athletes, facilitating the first meeting of Ministers of Sport in the Americas in Brazil in April 2003.

Connectivity

Canadians know by experience that information and communications technology can bring us together as a nation even as it transforms the way we study, work, heal, communicate, build, entertain and govern ourselves.

Canada has quickly seized the opportunity to take a leadership position on-line with an array of private-sector and government initiatives winning worldwide attention. Now that digitized information is becoming available throughout the Americas, Canadian experience with new media and information technology provides an opportunity to connect Canada even more closely with its hemispheric neighbours.

Leaders at the Quebec City Summit issued a statement on "Connecting the Americas." This recognized that the region is beginning a historic transformation, with a vastly enhanced capacity to access knowledge and improve information flows.

In demonstration of its commitment to promoting the transformation, Canada took the opportunity of the Quebec Summit to announce the creation of the Institute for Connectivity in the Americas (ICA). The ICA aims to build on the success of Canada's domestic "Connecting Canadians" strategy and international development experience to achieve the Leaders' objectives, working with international institutions, the private and public sectors, academic institutions, and civil society.

ICA's role within the Americas is to lead, facilitate, promote and foster the accelerated development and adoption of Hemispheric connectivity, with a focus on regional approaches. The Institute is filling a critical gap by assisting the coordination, collaboration and sharing of efforts across countries; it is promoting strategic partnerships and financing, and is providing leadership and support to jurisdictions, providers and stakeholders.

Canada plays a leading role in a parallel process within the OAS. It has been working within the Inter-American Telecommunication Commission to develop a simple model that national governments can use to develop a plan for connectivity appropriate to their circumstances. Canadian-led efforts have resulted in the creation of the Agenda for Connectivity in the Americas and Plan of Action of Quito (ACAPAQ).

ACAPAQ follows the Canadian model, with efforts focused on encouraging the involvement of all sectors of society in developing a plan that addresses issues of developing infrastructure, increasing use through capacity building, and developing relevant content for users. To be successful, Canada believes the plan must: benefit from leadership at the highest level; be based on principles of equity, universality and affordability; and be geared to stimulate the production and dissemination of relevant content in critical areas, meeting the fundamental needs of the citizens of the Americas. ACAPAQ has been circulated to all the countries of the Americas. Representatives of multilateral development banks and other international, regional and sub-regional institutions are meeting regularly to advance its progress.

Through initiatives such as Canada's Institute for Connectivity in the Americas and ACAPAQ, Canada is working with national administrations, the Inter-American Development Bank, the World Bank and the OAS to connect people, schools, communities and governments.

"Connecting Canadians" has given Canada a decade's worth of experience in the application of information and communications technology. Innovative policies, programs, products and practitioners are in great demand throughout Latin America and the Caribbean. Canadians are working assiduously to meet the demand together with our partners throughout the Hemisphere.

A Future for the Children and Youth of the Americas

Fifty percent of the population of Latin America and the Caribbean is under 18 years of age, and 60 percent of these children live in poverty. One in five of those between 6 and 18 years old is working, often in hazardous conditions. Street kids face hunger, disease and violence. In some countries, children and adolescents are recruited to fight for warring factions or with armed gangs.

Protecting children and youth in the Americas from neglect, abuse, discrimination and exploitation is a top priority for Canada, and a major focus of the Quebec City Summit Plan of Action. Canada recognizes that investment in children and youth will allow them to reach their full potential for lifelong cognitive, social and emotional development and physical health. The Third Summit of the Americas was the first to include the category of Children and Youth within its Declaration and Plan of Action. This was an important acknowledgment that the rights of children remain a concern of all peoples of the Hemisphere. The inclusion of this category was initiated and strongly supported by Canada.

Canada has launched a range of cooperative initiatives to start tackling the enormous challenges that lie ahead. Canada spends about CDN$4 million every year for child protection in the Americas, especially in the key areas of child labour, street children, and children affected by armed conflict.

For example, in Colombia, Canada is providing CDN$3.5 million to two projects that focus on children affected by armed conflict. One project, with Save the Children Canada, will address the immediate educational and psycho-social requirements of children displaced by conflict. The other project, with Foster Parents Plan, aims to stop the recruitment of children into armed groups. In Argentina, the Canadian Child Care Federation is working with local partners to improve the quality of early childhood care and development. In Nicaragua, Canada works with Save the Children Canada to promote children as effective leaders in their communities. Canada is contributing CDN$5 million to the country program of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) in Jamaica, and CDN$3 million to UNICEF's program on Sexual and Reproductive Health Services for Adolescents in Guatemala; this will support efforts by the national public health system and participating NGOs to strengthen the delivery and quality of services for adolescents. A three-year, CDN$686,000 project through the Association des centres jeunesse du Québec seeks to improve child protection in Chile. The project is reinforcing the capacity of the Chilean National Child Service and its collaborating institutions to improve the quality of child welfare and rehabilitation services for young offenders.

At a regional level, Canada is supporting the Inter-American Children's Institute, a specialized OAS agency. A CDN$300,000, three-year project is helping to develop child labour policies and legislative models for governments in order to provide greater legal protection to children and youth.