Media Releases

Liberals press Harper on foreign aid for women

January 27, 2010

OTTAWA – In the wake of Stephen Harper’s sudden interest in maternal and child health in the developing world, Liberal MPs are urging the Prime Minister to reverse his past decisions to cut funding for gender equality and gender-based violence as foreign aid priorities.

In an online forum last week, Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff wrote, “The key focus for our development assistance should be enhancing the rights and capacities of women. Investing in the education of girls and women, protecting them from abuse, granting them property rights and ensuring a flow of microfinance are all key ways to reduce infant mortality, improve family life and spur economic development. Bet on women, that should be our motto!”

In May of last year, the Harper government announced it was restructuring foreign aid by removing extreme poverty reduction, gender equality, gender-based violence and health as priorities.  This was followed by a protest at a Parliamentary Committee from nineteen African ambassadors over cuts in development assistance to eight African nations.  More recently, the Conservatives cut funding to KAIROS, a development charity made up of Canada’s churches, with a record of fighting gender-based violence, while the government NGO Rights and Democracy withdrew funding for victims of sexual violence in the Congo.

“Any serious effort to reduce poverty and improve health outcomes for women and children, whether in the developing world or in our own backyard, must include a focus on the empowerment of women,” said Liberal Status of Women Critic Anita Neville.  “We hope that his shift in priorities means he will take a similar interest in helping women at home in Canada as well.”

A Liberal-organized forum on women’s issues on Parliament Hill today heard from groups and individuals expressing their dismay at the government’s record towards women, including:

•    Inaction on the systemic problem of missing and murdered Aboriginal women;

•    A 43 percent cut to Status of Women Canada;

•    Making pay equity a negotiable labour issue instead of a non-negotiable human right;

•    Eliminating $1 billion in child care agreements with the provinces and territories;

•    Ripping up the Kelowna Accord and its support for Aborignal health and education, especially for women;

•    Axing the court challenges program that helped underfunded groups mount constitutional human rights challenges; and

•    Reneging on the their 2008 budget promise to present an action plan for the equality of women.

“The government’s decision to strip gender-focussed funding out of foreign aid is just part of their overall agenda of neglect towards women’s issues,” said Liberal Women’s Caucus Chair Maria Minna. “However, we remain pleased to hear that the Prime Minister has shifted his top priority at the G8 to maternal and child health.”

Earlier this month, aides to the Prime Minister indicated that that fighting terrorism and dirty bombs would be the top priority on the G8 agenda.