Policy Updates

On April 15, 2024, Canadian Minister of International Development Ahmed Hussen participated in the International Humanitarian Conference for Sudan and its Neighbours, where he announced CAD132million (US$96 million) in international assistance funding to Sudan and neighbouring Central African Republic, Chad, Ethiopia, and South Sudan.

The announcement included nearly CAD101 million (US$73 million) in humanitarian assistance and nearly CAD32 million (US$23 million) in development assistance amid the ongoing armed conflict in Sudan. The funding is slated to provide crisis-affected people with emergency health services, food and nutrition assistance, protection services for gender-based violence survivors, and other assistance including shelter, water, and sanitation services. The development assistance will support critical programming in SRHR and education infrastructure.

On April 11, 2024, Canada’s Minister of International Development Ahmed Hussen announced CAD142 million (US$103 million) in funding for projects in the DRC and Benin to advance gender equality and women’s rights.

Six projects valued at a total of nearly CAD75 million (US$55 million) were announced for the DRC. The projects will improve access to health resources for women and girls, promote inclusive governance practices, improve women’s inclusion in public and democratic life, and help prevent and respond to SGBV. Funding also included humanitarian programming that will address critical needs arising from the conflict in eastern DRC.

Five projects valued at a total of CAD68 million (US$49 million) were announced for Benin. The initiatives are slated to increase women’s economic resilience, promote a greener economy and agricultural sector, address SGBV, and strengthen inclusive health systems.

On April 11, 2024, the European Commission and the Belgian Council Presidency hosted the Global Gateway High-Level Event on Education.

Grounded in EU pledges from the 2022 TES, the program prioritized green and digital learning, teaching quality, and finance for education among others. Notably, FLN, one of the key foci of the 2022 TES, did not feature in the agenda.

In addition to high-level meetings and discussions, the event included EUR245 million (US$264 million) several pledges from the EU, including:

• EUR110 million (US$119 million) for implementation of Zambia's National Development Plan and Free Education Initiative, which aim to improve quality of early, primary, and secondary education and increase the attendance and completion rates of girls in school;
• EUR75 million (US$81 million) co-financed by the EU and Team Europe for employment-related skills and vocational training with a focus on women and girls' education in SSA. Specific partner countries were not named;
• EUR15 million (US$16 million) and EUR27 million (US$29 million) were allocated to youth mobility projects with a focus on EU-Africa mobility and intra-African mobility and green skills, respectively; and
• EUR18 million (US$20 million) for building research capacity related to medicines and vaccines in Nigeria.

On April 11, 2024, during the 8^th IPCI, Norway announced NOK589 million (US$54.3 million) in core funding to UNFPA in 2024.

Norwegian Minister of International Development Anne Beathe Tvinnereim noted that UNFPA is one of Norway’s key partners to promote the health, dignity, and rights of women and adolescents. Access to safe abortion, LGBTQI+ rights, sexual education and violence against women, indigenous rights were among the topics discussed during the conference.

The funding will enable UNFPA to respond to the many crises affecting women and adolescents, including the conflicts in Gaza and Sudan. The funding will also support work to uphold and advocate for women's rights.

On March 28, 2024, the IPCI/IPCD announced that IPCI 2024 would be held on April 10-12, 2024, in Oslo, Norway.

The event marks the 30^th anniversary of the Cairo Conference, where both women and sexual rights became part of the parliamentarians’ agenda. The ICPD or Cairo Conference was a ten-day conference held in November 1994, where representatives of the nations of the world discussed the future of the world’s population.

The 8^th IPCI will gather around 200 parliamentarians, ministers, UN experts, civil society leaders and other stakeholders.

The conference agenda includes on the following topics:

• How global trends such as demographic diversity and the climate crisis impacts the ability to achieve universal access to SRHR;
• The impact of the growing threat of digital violence on women leaders; and
• The challenges facing the funding landscape for SRHR as governments’ priorities come under threat from security concerns.

During the conference, Norway is also expected to announce its core contribution to UNFPA, one of Norway’s key partners in the fight for women’s and young people’s health and rights.

On April 4, 2024, the Dutch House of Representatives debated the Dutch Global Health Strategy, 18 months post-publication. Despite recent development budget cuts, Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation Geoffrey van Leeuwen and Minister for Medical Care Pia Dijkstra affirmed broad support for the strategy.

The strategy aims to strengthen global health systems, tackle health impacts of climate change, and prepare against future pandemics. CSOs and members of Parliament expressed concerns in relation to the previously announced development budget cuts of EUR3.5 billion (US$3.8 billion) over 2023-2026, as detrimental to effective implementation of the strategy.

van Leeuwen and Dijkstra reiterated their commitment to the strategy, emphasizing the strategy’s broader goals, including safeguarding the Netherlands’ own health and economic stability.

Emphasis during the debate centered on sexual health and SRHR and access to basic health care to uphold human rights and gender equality, urging sustained strategic partnerships. Focusing on access to medicines, Dijkstra agreed to re-examine the Socially Responsible Licensing toolkit to include how private companies can enhance accessibility and affordability of medicines for people in low-income countries.

Members of Parliament inquired about strategy implementation and monitoring. van Leeuwen committed to providing progress reports to the House of Representatives by year-end, along with policy coherence updates on the Dutch Global Health Strategy and ecological footprint reduction commitments by May 15, 2024.

On April 2, 2024, Japan reinstated its financial support for UNRWA, disbursing approximately US$35 million from the FY2023 supplementary budget.

The decision marked a significant step in Japan’s commitment to providing humanitarian assistance while ensuring the appropriate utilization of its funds.

To guarantee the effectiveness and legitimacy of the projects, Japan established a Japan - UNRWA Project Management and Monitoring Mechanism. Additionally, Japan aims to promote gender equality within UNRWA governance reform by encouraging the participation of women in leadership positions.

The funds will be distributed among the following programs:

• Gaza: Provision of relief supplies for women and infants;
• West Bank: Provision of medical services;
• Syria: Assistance for vulnerable groups, provision of medical services and vocational training;
• Lebanon: Provision of medical services; and
• Jordan: Assistance for vulnerable groups, assistance for youth.

On April 2, 2024, Sweden earmarked SEK120 million (US$11 million) to assistance in Gaza, Sudan, and Ukraine via the WFP, expressing deep concern over looming famine threats in these regions.

Swedish Minister for International Development Cooperation Johan Forssell emphasized the significance of WFP's role in saving lives. The grant, announced during WFP Executive Director Cindy McCain's recent visit to Stockholm, underscored Sweden's commitment to combating hunger and supporting emergency operations. The contribution is part of Sweden's broader assistance to the WFP for 2024, totaling approximately SEK1.3 billion (US$121 million).

On March 28, 2024, UK Minister for Development and Africa Andrew Mitchell committed to increasing humanitarian ODA to Sudan to GBP89 million (US$106 million) in 2024/25 in the face of growing humanitarian need in the region.

The commitment was made by Mitchell while on a trip to Chad, where he acknowledged the growing number of refugees from Sudan arriving in the country.

Some of the funding is slated to go to UNICEF for emergency and life-saving food assistance and nutrition, water and hygiene services for 500,000 children and to support survivors of gender-based violence. The funding will also support the WFP to provide assorted food commodities, including cereals, pulses, oils, and salt for thousands of people.

On March 28, 2024, Canada released Foundations for Peace, its third national action plan on the Women, Peace, and Security agenda for 2023 to 2029.

The 6-year strategy is a cornerstone of Canada’s feminist foreign policy, a blueprint for Canada’s leadership on the WPS agenda, and demonstrates Canada’s commitment to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. It will guide the Government of Canada’s approach to gender equality and peace-building domestically and in its international assistance work.

Foundations for Peace is guided by 6 focus areas:

• Building and sustaining peace: Increasing support for women and gender-diverse peacebuilders, human rights defenders, women’s rights organizations, and feminist movements;
• Security, justice, and accountability: Improving security, justice, and accountability for all - particularly women, girls and gender-diverse people;
• Crisis response: Ensuring that the needs of women, girls and gender-diverse people are addressed in the government’s responses to peace and security-focused crises;
• Sexual and gender-based violence: Reducing GBV in conflict, post-conflict and humanitarian contexts, and ensuring perpetrators are held accountable;
• Leadership and capabilities: Strengthening the government’s capabilities to fully implement the action plan and ensure Canada is a trusted leader and partner in advancing the WPS agenda; and
• Inclusion: Meaningfully integrating diverse, intersectional and anti-racist perspectives throughout all of the government’s efforts on WPS.