Canada supports further efforts in Iraq and Syria to empower women and girls and to stabilize the region
News release
July 12, 2018 - Brussels, Belgium - Global Affairs Canada
Canada is committed to the Global Coalition Against Daesh and to achieving lasting peace in Iraq and Syria.
Today, in Brussels, Belgium, the Honourable Chrystia Freeland, Minister of Foreign Affairs, 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.
Today’s 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 centre 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.
Quotes
“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.”
- Hon. Chrystia Freeland, P.C., M.P., Minister of Foreign Affairs
Quick facts
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Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced a new NATO mission during the Our Shared Global Values engagement event on July 11, 2018, just before the NATO Summit. Under Operation IMPACT, the Canadian Armed Forces are already providing training and assistance to the Iraqi security forces and helping regional forces build their capacity.
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Canada is also currently contributing mobile training teams to NATO’s counter-improvised explosive device capacity-building efforts for Iraq. This initiative builds on that effort.
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The Government of Canada is contributing more than $2 billion over the course of three years toward security, stabilization, and humanitarian and development assistance in response to the crises in Iraq and Syria and their impact on Jordan and Lebanon.
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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.
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With Canadian support, 5.2 million square metres of land in Iraq were cleared of landmines in 2016 to 2017, and hundreds of families displaced by Daesh were able to return home safely.
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Canada is one of 74 members of the Global Coalition Against Daesh and contributes to all five of the coalition’s lines of effort: supporting the coalition’s military operations in Iraq, tackling Daesh’s financing and economic infrastructure, preventing the flow of foreign terrorist fighters across borders, supporting stabilization and the restoration of essential public services to areas liberated from Daesh and countering the group’s propaganda.
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Adam Austen
Press Secretary
Office of the Minister of Foreign Affairs
Adam.Austen@international.gc.ca
Media Relations Office
Global Affairs Canada
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media@international.gc.ca
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