Speaking Notes for the Honourable Beverley J. Oda, Minister of International Cooperation, to Launch the Children and Youth Strategy

Toronto, ON
November 20, 2009

Good morning and thank you for joining me today on Universal Children's Day.

Nelson Mandela has said, "Children and youth are the rock on which our future will be built."

Today's generation of children and youth is the largest ever in history and it is forecast to become a 'youth tsunami'.

Nearly half of the world's population, or 3.4 billion people, are under the age of 25 and 90 percent of them live in the developing world.

But when children are unable to reach their full potential, we can only imagine what the future will bring for their families, communities and for their countries and our world.

Through CIDA, Canada has much to be proud of in what has been achieved through its support of children in developing countries, particularly in the areas of health and education.

Building on these successes and as part of our aid effectiveness agenda, our Government has identified Children and Youth as one of Canada's top thematic priorities for international development.

We will focus our work along three paths to support the children and youth in developing countries.

They are:

• Child health and survival, including maternal health,
• Access to quality education, and
• Their safety and security.

We know that countries with large proportions of young people are facing escalating demands for jobs, health services and education.

We also know that children are the most vulnerable among those living in poverty.

This is particularly true for girls and young women who are less well educated, less healthy and they enjoy fewer rights and freedoms.

The World Bank's Human Development Network has said, "Investing in adolescent girls is one of the smartest investment that developing countries and donors can make in their pursuit of lasting economic and social development. It makes sense for everyone: young girls, their families, and their wider communities. This was true long before the global crisis and it becomes all the more urgent now."

And so, just as we will focus our work in Food Security towards small holder female farmers, in our work under Children and Youth, we will pay particular attention to the needs of girls and young women.

I believe that this will yield results that will truly make a difference in the lives of those living in poverty.

Now, let me outline in more detail how, under its Children and Youth strategy, CIDA will be moving forward along 3 paths.

At the recent Canadian Conference on International Health, it was pointed out that, "A society has little chance to thrive if it fails to keep its mothers healthy and its babies alive."

Although UNICEF, the World Bank and the World Health Organization report that, even with improvements over the last couple of decades, each year approximately nearly 9 million children still die before their 5th birthday.

Each year, millions of children in developing countries die from diseases such as malaria, pneumonia, and HIV/AIDS.

According to UNICEF, about 420,000 children were infected with HIV through their mothers in 2007, and half of them died before their second birthday.

Each year, nearly 750,000 children under the age of 5 die of malaria, most of these deaths in Africa.

And an estimated 1.5 million children die from diarrhea every year.

Yet in many cases, there are simple, cost-effective treatments that could prevent all these deaths.

We want to make sure that infants survive, and children are alive and well on their 5th birthday and beyond.

Nutrition is essential to early childhood development and to building a healthy population for the long run.

Today, malnourishment leads to serious illness, blindness, mental disorders and death among the worlds most vulnerable.

According to the World Health Organization, malnutrition contributes to over one third of all childhood deaths.

Vitamin A, iodine, and other micronutrients play a crucial role in the health of young children and mothers.

That is why, last month, I announced that nutrition will be a part of our work under food and nutrition in the Food Security strategy.

As a founding partner and principal donor of the Micronutrient Initiative, Canada has become known for its leadership on vitamin A and iodine.

Indeed, UNICEF has said that Canada's support for iodized salt programs has saved 6 million children from mental impairment.

We agree with the World Bank that has said, "Probably no other technology offers as large an opportunity to improve lives … at such low cost and in such a short time."

And so, in recognition of the effectiveness of this program, I am pleased to announce a major renewed partnership between CIDA and the Micronutrient Initiative.

Through this new support of $150 million over 5 years, millions more children and pregnant mothers will get the micronutrients they need.

Another achievement to be proud of is that by immunizing more than 100 million children each year, more than 2.5 million lives are saved annually.

In sub-Saharan Africa, for example, remarkable results have been achieved in immunizing against three key childhood diseases: diphtheria, whooping cough and tetanus.

In 1998, barely half of African children were vaccinated against these core diseases but by 2007, nearly three-quarters had received their shots.

As we implement our Children and Youth strategy, CIDA will build on these achievements.

As parents, we know that often we only have a short window to ensure a sick child can survive; medical care in 24 to 48 hours can mean the difference between life and death.

But two-thirds of children who die in developing countries never see a health care giver or see the inside of a hospital or a clinic.

Distances are too great and services inaccessible.

Canada recognizes that we must improve access and strengthen the basic health services and systems that are so vital to the health of mothers, pregnant women and children.

First, we want to improve the access that children and mothers have to basic health care and help move it closer to their homes, particularly in communities where they represent the major part of the population.

That's what inspired our Government in 2007 to take on a community-based approach to health care.

Under the Canadian-led Initiative to Save a Million Lives, UNICEF is now working with developing country partners to train villagers to become the front-line health workers.

To date, Canada's support has trained more than 20,000 villagers to provide basic health services such as administering antibiotics, and immunizing children against common diseases.

Canada's targeted leadership is now resulting in community-based basic healthcare for more children and their mothers.

At the same time, CIDA will assist developing countries governments build their own health care capacity through strengthened healthcare systems and institutions.

To that effect, I am pleased to announce a new partnership between CIDA and the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto and the SickKids Foundation.

CIDA will be providing up to $2.4 millions over 3 years to support the SickKids Global Child Health Program.

Working with the University of Ghana College of Health Sciences and Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, this project will increase the numbers of qualified, well-trained pediatric nurses available in Ghana.

It will also allow for the training of child health leaders in Ghana, Tanzania and Ethiopia.

As we improve health care for infants and children, we must also recognize that more than half a million women die from complications related to pregnancy and childbirth yearly, nearly all of them are in developing countries.

Childbirth is the leading cause of death for adolescent girls.

Yet many of these deaths could be prevented if the women had access to services such as pre-natal and antenatal care.

Canada has been successfully supporting effective initiatives to address this devastating reality.

In Tanzania, for example, we've helped more than 400,000 women have healthy babies.

However, more than 500,000 women around the world continue to die of pregnancy-related causes.

Under our new strategy, we will target effective programs that support mothers and ensure they are sufficiently healthy to care for their infants and children under the age of 5.

Efforts that see major infectious diseases that primarily affect mothers and children are prevented and treated.

And finally, we will support projects and programs that are targeted to meet the health care needs of mothers and children under the age of 5.

However for children to thrive, they must have access to quality basic education and learning opportunities.

It has been said "in Afghanistan and Haiti…Canada is at the forefront of efforts to provide aid to education in contexts where there is limited legitimate government authority and capacity and protracted conflict."

CIDA has distinguished itself internationally in this sector and will continue to build and strengthen its focus in education.

Consequently, CIDA's second path under its Children and Youth Strategy will be to provide access to quality basic education and learning opportunities, with a particular focus on girls.

Educating girls is one of the best investments a country can make.

Educated girls and women are more likely to marry later, have fewer children, and ensure their own children, both boys and girls, go to school.

They are also less likely to be exploited.

And in Kenya, it was reported that if women farmers had the same education and inputs as men farmers, crop yields could rise by 22 percent.

Despite the multiple benefits of educating girls, when families are facing extreme poverty, the first thing struggling families do is to take their girls out of school.

Canada can take pride for our work in education, and much of the credit belongs to our partners here in Canada.

In Senegal, for example, the Fondation Paul Gérin-Lajoie is delivering literacy training to marginalized youth.

And Canada is the lead donor to the Afghan national education strategy, EQUIP.

In Kandahar, Canada is supporting the training of female teachers will reinforce a protective wall around the teacher's college, will build a new residence at the college for students from the rural districts and is providing safe transportation for girls and teacher trainees to and from school in the city.

These are the kinds of programs that will provide children and youth with the quality education that they deserve in order to gain the skills needed to build their futures.

But 75 million children do not have access to quality basic education.

That is why Canada supports the Education for All - Fast Track Initiative.

This global partnership between donors and developing countries is effective.

In fact, 20 million more children are going to school in sub-Saharan Africa.

To continue on its support for this initiative, I am pleased to announce that Canada is making a 5-year commitment of $60 million to the fund.

Most of these funds will help developing countries implement their national Education Sector Plans.

In addition, it will help to strengthen their skills in developing education policy, planning and management, including reporting on results.

Going forward, CIDA will stay on track, ensuring that more children, especially girls, have access to and complete their basic education.

It will support youth looking to acquire the basic skills, such as literacy and numeracy, needed to become productive citizens as adults.

Our new strategy aims to improve the quality of education through quality teacher training; the production and distribution of culturally relevant textbooks, and the development of appropriate curricula.

These targeted objectives will work together and help achieve our ultimate goal for children and youth - to have the capacity and desire to keep learning and to become productive contributing members of their communities.

Let me turn now to the third and final path under our Children and Youth Strategy: ensuring the safety and security of children and youth.

Nelson Mandela once said, "Safety and security don't just happen, they are the result of collective consensus and public investment. We owe our children, the most vulnerable citizens in our society, a life free of violence and fear."

Sadly, the World Bank reports that thousands of children are robbed of their childhood and self-esteem due to sexual abuse and exploitation throughout the world, and 300 million children become victims of violence every year.

Some 1.2 million children are being trafficked every year as cheap labour and for sexual exploitation.

And nearly 90 percent of those trafficked for domestic work are girls.

UNICEF says that if we do not protect children from physical violence and abuse, prevent child labour, forced marriages, sexual exploitation, under-aged military service and child soldiers, we will have squandered the world's most precious resource.

And so in answer to Mandela's call for collective consensus and public investment, Canada will support 4 areas on the Child and Youth Safety and Security path.

First, governments play an important role to create a safe environment for children.

However, developing countries often have weak legislation, policies and regulatory frameworks to protect children.

They lack the capacity and knowledge, the financial and human resources to ensure the safety of working children, prevent the worst forms of child labour and stop violence and child abuse.

They have limited experience in addressing the specific needs of girls in violent situations.

That's why we plan to work with our partner countries to help them develop the capacity and legal means to protect their children and youth.

And that's why we will help our partners build public sector capacity in areas that will strengthen child protection.

For example, we can build on the good work already underway in such places as Darfur.

There, CIDA is providing support to reintegrate children associated with armed groups, and conflict with the law, back into their communities.

This work involves police officers, teachers, civil servants and the judiciary in a cooperative, coherent, community-based approach - an effective approach that is making a difference.

Birth registration is critically important because it gives children legal status which in turn helps provide access to education and health services, and helps keep track of children so they are less vulnerable to abuse and exploitation.

For example, according to UNICEF, in 2007, around 51 million births were unregistered in developing countries.

These unregistered children are almost always from poor, marginalized or displaced families.

In a country like Haiti, for example, only 60 percent of children are officially registered.

That's why CIDA is helping Haiti build a national birth registration system.

And with only 1/3 births registered, Sub-Saharan Africa has the highest percentage of children under 5 who are not registered, more work remains to be done.

As part of our commitment to quality education, CIDA will help to build and maintain safe learning environments that are appropriate for boys and girls.

And finally, in developing countries, we want to offer youth-at-risk alternatives to violence and crime so they can become positive contributing members of society.

Last year I had the chance to see how a CIDA-funded project in Colombia has helped 2,800 former child soldiers and others rebuild their lives.

They are learning skills needed to find full-time work, set up their own businesses, and reintegrate successfully into their families and communities.

And I'm looking forward to returning to another project that was rehabilitating young men and women who were victims of the sex trade.

When first visited, they were operating outside of the city, removed from family, where legal aid and social assistance workers could only visit.

After some discussion and more planning, the project now operates in the city in a building made available by the city's mayor, easily accessible for those seeking help, with offices in which to meet with the legal and social assistance workers.

This change has made the project more effective and efficient, along with the ability to track those who may re-enter the sex trade.

The project is now truly community-based, more sustainable and more accountable as it can measure its effectiveness by tracking its clients as well as it includes local government participation.

These are the very criteria that CIDA believes will lead to meaningful, sustainable development.

If our work in Securing a Future for Children and Youth is not sustainable, we will have failed in our mission.

As called for in our commitment to aid effectiveness, it will be focused on three key paths - child survival, including maternal health, access to quality education and safety and security.

This calls for initiatives that are efficient, focused, and accountable.

I want to emphasize that in our work for children and youth, CIDA will seek projects and programs that are sustainable, build local capacity and support local ownership.

We encourage projects developed in collaboration with governments and local communities, particularly those that support national or local plans and frameworks.

Or those that are integrated into national or regional poverty reduction strategies or into sectoral strategies.

As part of our accountability mandate, CIDA-supported projects must clearly identify what we expect to achieve both in qualitative and quantitative terms.

And CIDA will inform Canadians about those outcomes in our annual Development for Results Report.

This is our promise to you today.

It's been said that, "...children are the living messages we send to a time we will not see."

So the question is what message will these children take to the future on our behalf?

We want the children living in poverty today to become resourceful, engaged and productive, ready to carry on the work of building a better future for the next generation.

Many of us will not see that future generation, but we can take pride in knowing that today we acted in good faith to make it a brighter future.

I can't think of a more fitting way to celebrate Universal Children's Day than with a renewed promise to the children and youth that are in such great need.

Thank you.