News Release

Canada Announces Humanitarian Support to Improve the Health and Wellbeing of the Most Vulnerable in the Philippines

Canada supporting efforts to improve the health and wellbeing of those in greatest need in the conflict-affected areas of the Philippine island of Mindanao

Kamloops, BC – Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development Canada

Today, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Labour and Western Economic Diversification, Cathy McLeod announced, on behalf of the Honourable Christian Paradis, Minister of International Development and La Francophonie, Canadian support to the International Committee of the Red Cross to help the most vulnerable in the Philippines.

The announcement was made prior to a roundtable with local stakeholders and members of the Filipino community to discuss the way forward to continue to improve the lives of mothers and their children in the developing world. This meeting was part of the consultations announced by Prime Minister Stephen Harper at the Saving Every Woman, Every Child: Within Arm’s Reach Summit which took place in Toronto from May 28-30, 2014.

“Canada is making a difference in the lives of people around the world,” said PS McLeod. “The contribution announced today builds on this work by supporting efforts to improve the health and wellbeing of those in greatest need in the conflict-affected areas of the Philippine island of Mindanao.”

Today’s roundtable focused on how to ensure that global commitments deliver real results to those in need while remaining accountable to Canadian taxpayers. Canada is committed to scaling up interventions that will have the greatest impact focusing in the areas of strengthening health systems, improving nutrition, and reducing the burden of leading diseases.

“Canada is a global leader in improving maternal newborn and child health,” said Minister Paradis. “By working with partners such as the International Committee of the Red Cross, we are helping to build prosperous communities support vulnerable women and children can live healthy and productive lives.”

Thanks to Canadian leadership and subsequent global action, maternal mortality rates are declining and millions more children are celebrating their fifth birthday. Recognizing there is much more work to be done, Prime Minister Harper hosted the Saving Every Woman, Every Child: Within Arm’s Reach Summit in Toronto in 2014. At the Summit, Canada committed an additional $3.5 billion to continue support through to 2020, and reaffirmed global consensus on a shared commitment to end the preventable deaths of mothers, newborns and children under the age of five within a generation.

Quick Facts

• In 2014, Canada confirmed the Philippines as a new country of focus for the Government of Canada’s international development efforts.
• On June 28, 2014, Canada announced funding for the International Organization of Migration (IOM) to provide humanitarian assistance to conflict-affected people in Mindanao.
• On June 20, 2014, Canada announced funding for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to provide humanitarian assistance to refugees and vulnerable populations around the world, including funds allocated to conflict-affected people in Mindanao.
• Solid international progress is being made to address maternal, newborn and child health. The number of women who die each year during pregnancy or childbirth has dropped substantially – from 523,000 deaths in 1990 to 289,000 in 2013.
• The global number of deaths of children under the age of five has dropped significantly as well, from nearly 12 million in 1990 to 6.6 million in 2012.