June 8, 2015 - Montréal, Quebec - Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development Canada
The Honourable Christian Paradis, Minister of International Development and La Francophonie, announced Canada’s support to a project promoting employment through entrepreneurship for women and youth in francophone sub-Saharan African countries.
Minister Paradis made this announcement at the Conference of Montréal, following his meeting with Michaëlle Jean, Secretary General of La Francophonie. During the conference, he participated in a number of activities linked to La Francophonie, including the forum on the economic strategy for La Francophonie, which was adopted at the November 2014 Dakar Summit. Canada’s contribution is a concrete step toward implementing this strategy, which aims at promoting the socio-economic integration of women and youth by focusing on their ability to innovate and their entrepreneurial spirit.
The purpose of the economic strategy for La Francophonie is to define inclusive and sustainable models of economic growth and development, in order to create a framework that facilitates trade and investment, as well as to help reduce social inequalities. The strategy also aims to strengthen the French-language economic area to make it a preferred forum for dialogue, cooperation and solidarity—values embodied by La Francophonie. To achieve this, the strategy calls for strengthening the democratic processes, the rule of law, governance, human rights and gender equality, and encourages greater participation by local development stakeholders, civil society, the private sector and the diaspora.
“La Francophonie represents enormous economic potential because of its demographic and trade weight, its opportunities for growth and its natural resources, particularly in the sub-Saharan African countries, and because of the economic vitality that comes from sharing the French language.
“The contribution announced today is a concrete step toward implementing the economic strategy of La Francophonie, in which one of the preferred areas of action is to promote the socio-economic integration of women and youth by focusing on their capacity for innovation and their entrepreneurial spirit.”
- Christian Paradis, Minister of International Development and La Francophonie
Media Relations Office
Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development Canada
343-203-7700
media@international.gc.ca
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