Ottawa, Ontario - 11 October 2014
Prime Minister Stephen Harper today issued the following statement to mark the International Day of the Girl Child:
“Our Government is committed to giving girls a strong foundation to succeed in life by promoting equality, education and good health in a safe, secure environment.
“In too many places around the globe, girls are still denied access to quality education, nutrition and health services, and are more likely to experience physical and sexual violence. Many are forced into marriage at a young age, and face disturbing restrictions on their rights and freedoms – all because they are girls.
“In Canada, we are promoting the rights of girls in a number of ways, including through initiatives that deter violence, sexual exploitation and cyber-crimes such as the Protecting Canadians from Online Crime Act (Bill C-13), the modernization of Canada’s Criminal Code, our Stop Hating Online campaign, the RCMP Centre for Youth Crime Prevention, and our support for the Canadian Centre for Child Protection's Cybertip.ca and NeedHelpNow.ca websites.
“On the international front, Canada continues to make significant contributions to help girls flourish by supporting efforts that promote access to education, nutrition and health services, and initiatives that help prevent and respond to violence and sexual exploitation. Canada is also actively involved in efforts to end child, early and forced marriage.
“Canada has been a global leader on maternal, newborn and child health. At the Saving Every Woman Every Child: Within Arm’s Reach Summit held in Toronto last May, our Government made a renewed commitment – $3.5 billion for the period of 2015-2020 – in support of international efforts to end the preventable deaths of mothers, newborns and children younger than age five, which remains Canada’s top development priority. I reiterated these same commitments during my address to the United Nations General Assembly two weeks ago in New York City.
“On this International Day of the Girl Child, let us remember one fundamental tenet: Girls and women, everywhere, deserve equal opportunities to succeed and thrive.
“Yesterday, I was very pleased to congratulate Malala Yousafzai who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her work on children’s rights. Malala is the youngest ever recipient of the Peace Prize, and I look forward to her visit later this month.”
