The Government of Canada today announced a total of approximately PHP757 million (Can$18.9 million) for 7 new development assistance projects to be implemented in the Philippines over the next 5 years.
These initiatives focus mainly on supporting the country’s economic response to the COVID-19 pandemic, empowering and improving the health of women and girls and assisting vulnerable people in underdeveloped areas of Mindanao.
“Canada stands together in solidarity with the Filipino people in the face of unprecedented challenges resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, including the negative physical, mental, social and economic effects many are experiencing each day,” said Peter MacArthur, Canada’s Ambassador to the Philippines.
“We support our partners in the Government of the Philippines, civil society and multilateral agencies in rolling out a wide range of programs to mitigate the effects of the pandemic and jump-start the economic recovery of those who have been adversely affected by this global crisis,” Ambassador MacArthur added.
“Canada continues to work in a coordinated manner with government agencies and non-governmental organizations to ensure that these projects will reach their target beneficiaries. These initiatives reflect the spirit of the 2030 Agenda’s Sustainable Development Goals, and I am confident that they will contribute to inclusive economic growth in marginalized communities, gender equality, youth empowerment, good governance and sustained peace in Bangsamoro,” Ambassador MacArthur said.
The projects include:
· Education initiatives implemented by Save the Children, in close partnership with the Department of Education, in the cities of Paranaque and Taguig and the municipality of Pateros, as well as by Vancouver, British Columbia-based Big Bad Boo Studios, Inc., in coordination with the Bangsamoro Ministry of Basic, Higher, and Technical Education to reach children in grades 4 to 6 in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM);
· Health care initiatives implemented by the Canada-based non-governmental organization Inter Pares and its Philippine partner the Likhaan Center for Women’s Health to help more than 54,000 women and girls in Metro Manila and surrounding provinces, as well as by the United Nations Population Fund in at least 10 municipalities in the CALABARZON (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, and Quezon) region;
· Empowerment and inclusive governance initiatives implemented by the Mennonite Economic Development Associates to support resilience and inclusion through investment for sustainable agriculture in the BARMM and in Davao Region, by Philippine Business for Social Progress to advance gender equality and women’s rights across the Philippines and by the Forum of Federations to promote sustained peace in Bangsamoro by supporting the governance capacity of BARMM officials. (Embassy of Canada in the Philippines)
