Canada supports further efforts in Iraq and Syria to empower women and girls and to stabilize the region

On Friday, in Brussels, Belgium, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Canada, Chrystia Freeland, participated in the Foreign Ministers Meeting of the Global Coalition Against Daesh. During the meeting, the Minister announced $26.7 million in funding to improve the livelihoods of women and girls.

The funding will be used to provide women and girls with access to sexual and reproductive health services, increase women’s roles in decision making in their communities and give them economic opportunities such as small business grants. All of these projects are focused on supporting a more peaceful and prosperous future in the region.

The funding will also support projects aimed at helping to remove improvised explosive devices planted by Daesh in public buildings, such as hospitals, schools, and water treatment plants, and projects seeking accountability for Daesh crimes in Iraq and Syria.

At the meeting, the Minister reinforced the need for all coalition members to put gender equality, including initiatives surrounding women, peace, and security, at the center of all their operations in Iraq and Syria.

Canada also recently announced that it will expand its leadership role in NATO and assume command of a new NATO training and capacity-building mission in Iraq for its first year. Canada’s leadership and contributions will help strengthen Iraqi security forces and create the foundations for longer-term peace and stability in the country.

“Today’s announcement reflects Canada’s unwavering support for the Global Coalition Against Daesh and for the stability of Iraq and Syria. We believe that gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls are vital to achieving and sustaining peace and security in both countries,” said Chrystia Freeland, P.C., M.P., Minister of Foreign Affairs.

In 2016 to 2017, with support from Canada and other donors, 1.5 million women and girls in Iraq and Syria received reproductive health services; in addition, nearly 294,000 women survivors of gender-based violence, and women at risk of such violence, received prevention and response services.

Original source: GA Canada
Published on 12 July 2018