Prime Minister Stephen Harper announces funding for the “Global Financing Facility For Every Woman Every Child” during the Every Woman Every Child panel discussion on maternal, newborn and child health at the United Nations General Assembly.
New York City, New York - 25 September 2014
Prime Minister Stephen Harper today addressed the United Nations General Assembly in New York City, where he focused on Canada’s global leadership to end the preventable deaths of mothers, newborns and children within a generation.
In his address to the General Assembly, Prime Minister Harper noted the tremendous progress that the world has made to save the lives of the world’s most vulnerable mothers, newborns and children; efforts galvanized by the significant financial commitments and strategic partnerships generated by the Canadian-led 2010 Muskoka Initiative of world leaders, and re-energized at the 2014 Saving Every Woman Every Child: Within Arm's Reach Summit in Toronto.
Prime Minister Harper called on all partners to sustain the momentum generated by the Toronto Summit to ensure that ending preventable deaths of mothers, newborns and children under the age of five within a generation is a central priority of the post-2015 development agenda.
Prior to his remarks, the Prime Minister joined co-founders of the platform Ban Ki-moon, Secretary-General of the United Nations, Dr. Jim Yong Kim, President of the World Bank Group, Erna Solberg, Prime Minister of Norway, and Dr. Rajiv Shah, USAID Administrator, in announcing the “Global Financing Facility For Every Woman Every Child.” The Facility is an important global resource to finance health services for women and children in developing countries and will help ensure that maternal, newborn and child health remains a top priority in the post-2015 agenda.
Also at this event, the Prime Minister, along with Jakaya Kikwete, President of the United Republic of Tanzania, and Dr. Margaret Chan, Director-General of the World Health Organization, emphasized that improving civil registration and vital statistics (CRVS) systems across the developing world is key to ensuring the health and survival of women and children. The Global Financing Facility will also include specific support for CRVS systems in developing countries.
“Ending preventable maternal and child deaths within a generation is possible, but not without greater political and financial commitments. Canada will continue to champion these issues on the world stage to ensure that they remain at the forefront of the global agenda now and beyond 2015. We call on all partners to increase their efforts to achieve this goal.” – Prime Minister Stephen Harper
“Civil Registration and Vital Statistics are the bedrock of accountability for women’s and children’s health. I am pleased to announce Canada’s support for the Global Financing Facility for Every Woman Every Child. This Facility is a concrete step in providing the financial infrastructure and capital that are required for developing countries to strengthen their health systems and to record and track essential data.” – Prime Minister Stephen Harper
