Address by Minister Bibeau at the World Health Assembly

Speech

May 25, 2016 - Geneva, Switzerland

Check against delivery. This speech has been translated in accordance with the official languages policy and edited for posting and distribution in accordance with the Government of Canada’s communications policy.

There is no doubt the Millennium Development Goals achieved significant progress for maternal, newborn and child health.

More women are surviving pregnancies and childbirth than ever before, and almost twice as many children are living past their fifth birthday.

But adolescents—mostly girls—were largely left behind.

Yes, we have made progress on maternal, newborn and child health. But far too many adolescent girls are still in danger of being left behind.

Tonight I want to focus my remarks on the health challenges faced by adolescent girls.

I’ve just spent two weeks on the road attending summits and meetings. I’ve heard a lot of speeches and a lot of numbers.

But one statistic in particular says it all: every year more than 16 million adolescent girls become mothers.

When girls as young as 13—or even younger—are raped or forced to get married, and become pregnant before they are fully grown themselves, they are robbed of their childhood. They are robbed of the opportunity to go to school. They are robbed of a future. They have a much higher risk of health complications, including infection and disease, and death.

This has to change. Yes, maternal health is important. But so is fighting the root causes of adolescent pregnancies. We have to adopt a comprehensive approach.

Our government is committed to the protection and promotion of the health and rights of women and girls, especially their sexual and reproductive health and rights.

It will be our highest priority as we review our international assistance policy.

So what does that mean? It means that we:

• listen to adolescent girls;
• understand their needs;
• involve them in our initiatives; and
• ensure our programming contributes to their welfare and empowerment.

It also means that we offer and support the full range of sexual and reproductive health services. This starts with education for both girls and boys. It also includes:

• access to contraception;
• access to family planning services;
• safe deliveries; and
• safe abortions.

This approach will ensure that every pregnancy is wanted, every birth is safe and every girl and woman is treated with the dignity and respect she deserves.

Adolescent girls also face other health challenges, and the Government of Canada is committed to addressing these as well.

I am talking about global epidemics and nutrition.

Let me start with global epidemics and Canada’s absolute commitment to fight HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria and polio. These diseases have a profound and often disproportionate impact on the health of women, adolescent girls and children.

Here are two more statistics that powerfully illustrate the importance of committing to the reproductive and sexual rights and health of adolescent girls:

• In countries with a high burden of HIV/AIDS, girls account for more than 80 percent of all new HIV infections among adolescents.
• Seven thousand girls between the ages of 15 and 24 are infected with HIV every week.

I know this sounds dramatic—and it is. But we have to remember the tremendous progress we have made as a global community in fighting these diseases.

Think about polio for a minute. We are on the verge of eradicating polio from the face of the earth.

With continued collaboration and renewed commitment, we will meet the Sustainable Development Goal of ending the HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria epidemics for good by 2030.

We can do this through supporting the important work of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria and the work of GAVI, the Vaccine Alliance.

A few weeks ago, Canada increased its contribution to the Global Fund by 20 percent to $785 million for the period 2017 to 2019.

And I am proud to invite all of you to support the Fifth Global Fund Replenishment Conference, which Canada will host in Montréal on September 16, 2016.

Let me turn now to nutrition, another area of focus for the health of adolescent girls. Providing them with access to nutritious food is another way to help them survive, thrive and reach their full potential.

Here are my last statistics for the night:

• Over a billion women today are malnourished.
• Anemia affects 500 million women and adolescents girls.

That is why Canada supports global nutrition efforts, such as the Scaling Up Nutrition movement. Canada is also the founding donor of the Micronutrient Initiative, or MI.

Last week at the Women Deliver conference in Copenhagen, Denmark, we contributed to the launch of the MI’s Right Start Initiative, which aims to reach 100 million women and girls with critical nutrition interventions.

This evening we will hear about some of the amazing progress that has been made in adolescent health at the community and country levels.

We will also hear about some of the gaps we need to address in:

• research;
• data collection; and
• the inclusion and participation of youth in decision making.

When adolescents, particularly girls, are safe, healthy and empowered and have real choices in life, they can be powerful agents of social and economic change.

This is our goal. This is how we ensure that no one is left behind.

Thank you.

Contacts

Bernard Boutin
Press Secretary
Office of the Minister of International Development and La Francophonie
343-203-5977
bernard.boutin@international.gc.ca

Media Relations Office
Global Affairs Canada
343-203-7700
media@international.gc.ca
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