On International Day for Older Persons October 1 (and every day), GRAN salutes the grandmothers of Sub-Saharan Africa who are the heroes on the front lines of the HIV/AIDS pandemic. While grieving the death of their adult children from AIDS they have stepped up to provide for their grandchildren and sustain their communities. One way that Canada could help grandmothers in sub-Saharan Africa would be to increase Canada’s contribution to foreign aid.
In 1969, at the urging of the Canadian Prime Minister the United Nations (UN) adopted a resolution calling for member countries to contribute a minimum of 0.7% of Gross National Income (GNI) to Official Development Assistance (ODA). Now at 0.24%, Canada’s contribution stands at the lowest since 2003; and the 2015 budget provided no increase.
We want to see Canada pay its fair share. Canada paying its fair share will aid people around the globe and those with whom GRAN is especially concerned: the grandmothers of sub-Saharan Africa in their struggle to rebuild the lives of their children, their grandchildren and their communities.
During this election campaign, the Grandmothers Advocacy Network will be asking our candidates if they agree that Canada should live up to the promise made to vulnerable people around the world, including the grandmothers of sub-Saharan Africa. It is time to commit 0.7% to ODA!
At the end of this month, government leaders from around the world will gather in New York to adopt the 2030 Agenda — the most comprehensive framework for global sustainable development ever designed. The agenda includes a set of 17 goals and 169 targets — the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) — that all countries will commit to working toward. Under Goal 5, ‘Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls,’ is Target 5.3, ‘Eliminate all harmful practices, such as child, early and forced marriage and female genital mutilations.’
Now that we have an ambitious global development agenda, what do we have to do in the next 15 years to make meaningful and positive change in the lives girls?
Read more by Helena Minchew of International Women’s Health Coalition.
http://iwhc.org/2015/09/can-we-end-child-marriage-once-and-for-all/#.VfBsZkc8hqs.twitter
Canadians have been horrified and moved to act by the graphic portrayal of the desperation of the faces of the men, women and children fleeing Syria. There is huge support for increasing the number of refugees. As Jenny Neal reminds us, in her editorial published in the Saskatoon Star Phoenixtoday, there is also a critical need for long-term approaches such as Official Development Assistance (ODA).
She spells out the decline in ODA, an issue GRANs are highlighting in the election campaign. Jenny is a member of our Leadership Team---read what she has to say...
This summer has been a very busy time for global education. Several high level meetings have taken place to set goals for the new sustainable development goal four of achieving inclusive, equitable and quality education for all. The Global Partnership for Education played an important role in developing and advancing the future of education for all at the World Education Forum in Korea, the Oslo Summit and the Financing for Development Conference in Addis Ababa. Canada sent representation to all three conferences recognizing the central role education plays in all development sectors. To find out more about these significant conferences, please read Alice Albright’s blog at
http://www.globalpartnership.org/blog/global-partnership-education-and-p...
Alice Albright is the CEO of the Global Partnership for Education and is tireless in her quest to raise awareness, to make sure that global education is at the top of the development agenda and to get every child into school and learning
Trade ministers from Canada, the United States and 10 other Pacific Rim countries are meeting in Hawaii July 28-31 to begin final negotiations on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement — a deal that could restrict access to lifesaving medicines for millions of people around the world.
Time is running out to change a trade deal that could jeopardize people’s access to affordable medicines at home and abroad. You can help by signing MSF petition asking Prime Minister Harper to not make medicines a luxury at http://campaigns.msf.ca/tpp or send an email to the government of Canada with your concerns: TPP-PTPconsultations@international.gc.ca and spreading the word.
Why the TPP trade deal is a threat to public health? Check out TPP campaign resources and read more at http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-debate/why-the-tpp-trade-deal-is-a-threat-to-public-health/article25548162
GRAN applauds Canada’s pledge to contribute $20 million to a new United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) project aimed at addressing the causes and consequences of child, early and forced marriage (CEFM).
Child, Early and Forced Marriage (CEFM) is a human rights violation, and has devastating consequences to women and girls in sub-Saharan Africa and around the world. It perpetuates gender inequality and powerlessness that is a barrier to girls developing their full potential and contributing fully to their society. It exposes them to health risks, abuse and violence.
The new UNFPA project aims to help adolescent girls gain better access to health information and services, education and life skills training, while also generating valuable data that will be used for advocacy, training and project tracking.
http://www.international.gc.ca/media/aff/news-communiques/2015/07/20a.aspx?lang=eng
AIDS researchers released a call to action recently for a worldwide shift in HIV treatment, to providing medication immediately after diagnosis instead of first watching for signs of illness to appear. Grandmothers and families in Africa need affordable ARVs NOW!
Read more at:
http://www.ctvnews.ca/health/experts-urge-shift-in-hiv-treatment-at-global-meet-in-canada-1.2477436
Image courtesy of voraorn at Free.Digitalphotos.net
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are ambitious targets to eliminate world poverty and food insecurity by 2030. The SDGs follow on from the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) which end this year. Progress was made, but not nearly enough.
Meeting the SDGs by 2030 will be very expensive. Tomorrow the UN's Third Financing Development Conference ends in Addis Ababa. Click on the link to read the Guardian’s article which brings clarity to the difficulties in achieving these goals.
And some good news from the same conference:
GRAN is keeping an eye on a critical global meeting taking place on July 13-16th. The UN Conference on Financing for Development in Addis Ababa in Ethiopia will bring together governments, donors and experts to look at ways to figure out how to pay for the new Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Presently, the gaps and needs for sustainable development are immense. The conference will look at ways to help reverse the declining trend in international aid and to pave the way for a new era of fairer development finance rules to tackle inequality and poverty.
The Finance for Development Conference is a major conference feeding in to the UN Summit in the fall. The UN summit for the adoption of the post-2015 development agenda will be held on September 25-27 in New York. At this important meeting, the new Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) will be ratified and these new goals will drive international development for the next 15 years.
We applaud Canada as one of the major donors to the Global Financing Facility in Support of Every Women and Every Child. However, we feel that Canada needs to make a stronger commitment to education in development, to recognize that education is a driver to all development sectors and to understand the role that girls’ education plays in poverty reduction and economic growth.
Canada needs to be at the table and be visible in Ethiopia. We want our government to know that we feel education deserves a higher priority in our development agenda, to make more of a commitment to getting the world’s children into school and increase its commitments to ODA (Official Development Assistance), especially in the education sector.
Action:
If you are up to a grassroots action this month, you might want to call or email your own MP asking to make basic education for all a higher priority in our development agenda, to increase our ODA commitments to education in development and that Canada will actively participate in the Financing for Development Conference in Addis Ababa.
To find your MP using your postal code and the contact information go to http://www.parl.gc.ca/Parlinfo/Compilations/HouseofCommons/MemberByPosta...
For more background information on this meeting in Ethiopia, go to http://www.un.org/esa/ffd/ffd3/blog/pave-the-way-for-new-era.html
For more information on the SDGs go to http://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2015/jan/19/sustainable-development-goals-united-nations
Our own GRAN, Valerie Wright, was at the table today with Bono and other representatives of civil society organizations. The roundtable discussion was hosted by ONE Canada and Engineers Without Borders and provided Bono with what he wanted…an opportunity to listen. And, Valerie says, listen he did. He heard suggestions from a small number of civil society organizations on the issues he might raise in later meetings scheduled with Prime Minister Harper, Opposition Leader Mulcair and Liberal Leader Trudeau.
Some of the issues those sitting at the roundtable hoped Bono would raise included beefing up Canada’s declining contribution to Official Development Assistance, reinforcing the importance of on the ground community development and Canada’s potential to once again, be a significant broker on the international stage.
Valerie is a member of the Education Working Group, the Hill Team and acts as cluster leader for Ottawa-Gatineau. We are delighted, and proud, that Valerie was invited to the table and represented GRAN. She is shown on the right in the attached photo (Peg Herbert of Help Lesotho is in the centre).
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