July 20, 2015 - Waterloo, Ontario - Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development Canada
The Honourable Rob Nicholson, P.C., Q.C., M.P. for Niagara Falls, Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Peter Braid, Member of Parliament for Kitchener–Waterloo, on behalf of the Honourable Christian Paradis, Minister of International Development and La Francophonie, today announced that Canada will contribute $20 million in new project funding aimed at addressing the causes and consequences of child, early and forced marriage (CEFM).
Ending CEFM will improve maternal, newborn and child health, which is Canada’s top development priority. With today’s funding announcement, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) will implement a new project to help adolescent girls gain better access to health information and services, education and life skills training, while also generating valuable data that will be used for advocacy, training and project tracking. The UNFPA will implement the new project over two years in Guatemala, Haiti, India, Niger, Nigeria and Sierra Leone.
“Choosing when and whom to marry is one of life’s most important decisions. Child marriage denies girls this choice and limits their potential. In partnership with the Government of Canada, the UNFPA will expand its support to governments of countries with a high prevalence or burden of child marriage to uphold the health, dignity and rights of adolescent girls. Ensuring evidence-based investments in girls is a sure way for nations to make greater progress in attaining their economic and social development goals.”
- Dr. Babatunde Osotimehin, Executive Director, United Nations Population Fund
“Today, there are 700 million women globally who were married as children; each of those lives reminds us of the urgent need for action to break the cycles that perpetuate child marriage and deny so many girls a fair chance in life.”
- Ted Chaiban, Director of Programmes, UNICEF
Johanna Quinney
Press Secretary
Office of the Minister of Foreign Affairs
343-203-1851
johanna.quinney@international.gc.ca
Media Relations Office
Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development Canada
343-203-7700
media@international.gc.ca
Follow us on Twitter: @CanadaFP
Like us on Facebook: Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development Canada-DFATD
