Notes for a speech by the Honourable Josée Verner, Minister of International Cooperation, at the breakfast at the Board of Trade of Metropolitan Montreal
2007-02-06
International Development Week 2007
Montreal, Quebec
Ladies and gentlemen,
Before I begin, I would particularly like to acknowledge three key CIDA partners. The first has come quite a distance and the second has traveled very far indeed.
It is my pleasure to introduce Mary Coyle, Director of the Coady International Institute in Nova Scotia. She was recently appointed to the Board of Directors of the Microfinance Investment Support Facility for Afghanistan – MISFA.
Amjad Arbab, Director of MISFA, came all the way from Afghanistan just two days ago.
Thank you for joining us today. It is a great honour to welcome you.
Yesterday, I was in Quebec City to launch International Development Week. I talked about how important MISFA is for women in Afghanistan. It will be my pleasure to talk about this again shortly.
Right now, I would like to talk about the importance of International Development Week. IDW is a time to celebrate our achievements, to assess the challenges that lie ahead, and to inform Canadians about how Canada and its partners are working to support global sustainable development.
I wanted to be here today to tell you that Canada’s ongoing international efforts, especially in Afghanistan, are necessary and deserve our full commitment.
This year, the theme for International Development Week is equality between women and men. This is because 21 percent of the world’s people live on less than a dollar a day, and women suffer most. More than half of these poor people are women. When I visited Mali last summer, I saw the reality of this statistic with my own eyes.
Poverty means not being able to meet your basic needs, such as food and shelter. But poverty also means not being able to get an education and health care. It means not being able to make your voice heard and to be involved in decision-making, at home, in your community, or in the political arena.
These living conditions are unbearable for any human being, and even more unbearable for those who have no way out. Women often find themselves in this predicament, living in situations where their rights and abilities are not recognized.
That is why equality between women and men is a priority for CIDA. We want to make this a core issue in all of our policies and programs. We also want to increase the number of initiatives that focus specifically on equality between women and men.
The businesspeople here today, particularly those of you who are women, know how important it is to have access to financing to start a business. When we help establish entrepreneurship among women, we help these women create employment, not only for themselves, but also for members of their community – men, women and girls. And you know as well as I do that employment is the engine for economic growth and sustainable development.
So, we look for ways to increase concrete results for women, for children, and for the overall societies in which they live. We are working mainly to ensure that women:
- fully exercise their rights,
- are involved in decision-making in public and private life, and
- have access to development resources and benefits.
We are working closely with many Canadian partners: NGOs, the private sector, colleges and universities. I want to express my appreciation to all of them during International Development Week. Thanks to them, we are taking practical steps to better the lives of thousands of women, children, and men around the world. Thanks to our joint efforts, Canada has built a solid international reputation, especially for equality between women and men.
I would like to talk to you about our work in Afghanistan, because this country receives the largest share of Canadian assistance. By 2011, Canada will contribute $100 million a year to help rebuild Afghanistan. We have made this commitment alongside 36 other countries.
Women in Afghanistan suffered terribly under the Taliban regime. Previously, they were teachers, doctors, journalists, and homemakers. Then, overnight, they lost the right, not only to practise their profession, but also to leave their homes. Girls did not go to school. Now, things are gradually changing.
With Canada’s support, Afghanistan adopted a new constitution that recognizes equality between women and men. As a result, in recent elections, 25 percent of the seats in Parliament were filled by women.
We are working with the Government of Afghanistan, our Canadian partners, and civil society on several fronts, to ensure that women and girls in Afghanistan are actively involved in rebuilding their country.
Many projects aim to protect their rights, to involve them in public life, and to promote their financial independence.
Microcredit is an extraordinary tool for development and freedom in this regard. It allows the most vulnerable of women to borrow small amounts to break the cycle of poverty.
With the Government of Canada’s support, the Government of Afghanistan has created the Microfinance Investment Support Facility for Afghanistan, and MISFA is definitely producing results.
Thanks to this program, 300,000 Afghans (72 percent of them women) can now meet their basic needs, without selling their belongings or reducing their already very frugal consumption.
By borrowing small amounts, sometimes as little as $100 or $150, these people are doing what they could never do before. They are starting up small businesses. They are buying land, tools, and livestock. They are making other investments.
I want to point out that 98 percent of these loans are repaid.
Thanks to microfinance, thousands of women and men in Afghanistan are making better lives for themselves and their families.
But they also receive what they need to realize the finest and noblest of hopes: discovering a newfound freedom.
Announcement
Having witnessed the dazzling and decisive success of this approach among the people of Afghanistan, today, I am announcing that Canada will contribute an additional $16 million to Afghanistan’s national microcredit program, MISFA.
Substantial change takes time. Equality between women and men is not only possible but also necessary. The development of entire countries depends on it. The Government of Canada and its partners are taking an approach that allows tangible, sustainable progress. I firmly believe this.
My belief is confirmed when I think about my visit to Afghanistan last summer. In my mind’s eye, I see a young mother who received a modest loan to start up her small sewing business. This business is generating a profit that allows her to feed and clothe her children. That’s when I say to myself, “Yes, aid works.”
But aid also works because entire communities have the necessary courage to improve their situation. It works because democratically elected governments take effective steps. It works because democracy nurtures hope, hope nurtures courage, and courage underlies every endeavour.
I am sure that, as businesswomen and businessmen, you are especially aware of this.
Thank you for your warm welcome and your attentiveness.
I am now available to answer your questions.
|