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 14, 2024, the C7 published a statement ahead of the G7 Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Capri from April 17-19, 2024, where the group called on the foreign ministers to take concrete action to promote human rights as well as the common interests of humanity and the planet.

The C7 advocated that the G7 ministers reaffirm their commitment to developing long-term peace-building strategies that address persistent structural challenges at the basis of conflicts, ensure food security even in fragile settings, and address a profound transformation of food systems. The group also called upon their governmental counterparts to ensure safe and regular migration channels and commit to protecting migrant rights.

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 8, 2024, Canada’s IDRC announced a new CAD70 million (US$51 million) partnership with the UK's FCDO to fund the AI4D partnership.

The partnership builds on the IDRC’s AI4D Africa partnership with the Sida, which has worked closely with African communities since 2020 to support AI development through high-quality research, responsible innovation, and talent strengthening.

The research is slated to focus on innovative, sustainable, and responsible AI that supports the establishment of research networks and policy labs. It will also help mitigate the risks of this disruptive technology, including the identification of existing biases in AI systems.

On March 25, 2024, amid a growing humanitarian crisis in Sudan, Open Canada is criticized the government of Canada for its inaction to address the public health and nutrition crisis, as well as the government’s lack of focus on the African continent as a whole.

The humanitarian crisis in Sudan followed the outbreak of war in April 2023, with 8 million people displaced, roughly half the population (approximately 25 million people) in urgent need of humanitarian assistance, a cholera outbreak, and a widespread famine predicted by June 2024.

Open Canada criticized the government for its passivity in the crisis, with neither Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau nor Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly having spoken publicly about Sudan since shortly after the outbreak of war. While Canada evacuated its Sudanese embassy in April 2023, it did not follow other donor countries in maintaining the presence of a senior official in the region to assist in conflict resolution or support key international humanitarian and development organizations. Open Canada also noted that, unlike the EU, UK, and US, Canada has not imposed sanctions on Sudan.

The group also criticized Canada's apathetic approach to the region more broadly. Canada announced a new Foreign Policy Engagement Plan for Africa in 2022, however, the strategy has since been transitioned into a “framework” with the Canadian government yet to release any details of the plan. Open Canada called on the Canadian government to implement a proper engagement strategy in Africa, particularly amid the growing humanitarian, development, and security crisis in Sudan.

On March 25, 2024, Canada’s Minister of International Development Ahmed Hussen announced CAD25 million (US$18 million) in funding for Canada’s International Youth Internship Program.

The program allows youth ages 18 to 30 years, especially those who identify as Indigenous, racialized, 2SLGBTQI+, or living with disabilities, to be paired with organizations in LICs and LMICs to work in sectors such as education, social services, human rights, agriculture, aquaculture, and more.

The program has been operating for over 25 years and allows youth to gain skills and experience in the field of international development. The new funding will run from 2023 to 2028 and allow more than 800 eligible youth to complete internships in over 40 LICs and LMICs.

At the Summit for Democracy on March 20, 2024, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau Canada announced CAD30 million (US$22 million) to protect and strengthen global democratic institutions and human rights.

The funding will support new projects, including:

• CAD22 million (US$16 million) to defend human rights and promote inclusion;
• CAD6 million (US$4 million) to strengthen resilient democratic institutions; and
• CAD3 million (US$2 million) to counter foreign interference.

On March 19, 2024, Canada’s Minister of International Development Ahmed Hussen announced CAD15 million (US$11 million) in development assistance funding for three projects in Iraq to support resilient food systems, climate change action, and gender empowerment.

Funding announced included:

• CAD5 million (US$4 million) to the International Center for Biosaline Agriculture’s Strengthening Evidence-Based Water Management project, which will improve sustainable water resource management;
• CAD5 million (US$4 million) to Action Against Hunger Canada’s Promoting Feminist Solutions to Climate Change-Driven Water and Food Insecurity, which will promote adoption of climate-smart approaches in food value chains and climate change governance by strengthening women’s rights organizations in drought-affected areas; and
• CAD5 million (US$4 million) to the National Democratic Institute’s Supporting Gender-Sensitive Local Governance Through Women’s Advisory Boards Program, which will strengthen women’s capacity to influence decisions on the allocation of resources in their communities.

On March 18, 2024, Canadian Minister of International Development Ahmed Hussen announced CAD66 million (US$49 million) in funding for six international development projects to support sexual and reproductive health and rights, mental health, and education for women and girls in Mozambique.

Projects included:

• CAD20 million (US$15 million) to the University of Saskatchewan for their Sexual and Reproductive Health for Young Women in Inhambane project, which aims to improve sexual, reproductive and maternal health and rights in the province of Inhambane;
• CAD20 million (US$15 million) to Pathfinder International for Impacto II: Supporting Family Planning Services in Mozambique, which aims to improve gender equality, self-determination, and access to sexual and reproductive health services in the Tete and Manica provinces;
• CAD13 million (US$10 million) to the UNDP through Action for Girls and Young Women’s SRHR, which removes barriers that prevent young women from accessing sexual and reproductive health rights services;
• CAD7 million (US$5 million) to the WHO’s Improving Data for Better Health Systems project, which aims to improve the quality of data to facilitate decision-making on sexual, reproductive, maternal, neonatal and child health;
• CAD5 million (US$4 million) to the University of Washington for the project Empower Mental Health, focused on strengthening existing health care and community-based systems of mental health care for underserved populations in the provinces of Manica and Sofala; and
• CAD1 million (US$1 million) to the Voluntary Service Overseas for their Empowering Adolescent Girls to Learn and Earn project, which aims to expand the basic literacy and numeracy of 3,000 out-of-school adolescent girls.

On March 11, 2024, the CLARE partnership between the UK and Canada’s IDRC launched 17 research projects designed to build climate resilience and reduce vulnerability in LICs and LMICs, valued at CAD180 million (US$133 million).

The research projects aim to support socially inclusive and sustainable action to build resilience to climate change and natural hazards in African partners and the Asia-Pacific region. Researchers in recipient countries are leading or co-leading the research, which will embed gender equality and inclusion principles and will address a wide range of climate change issues in the fields of agriculture, health, urban adaptation, water security, among others.