*Guest article by Leigh Raithby, Results Canada

 

More than two years into the COVID-19 pandemic, its impacts on communities are still emerging, as the world copes with the loss of millions of lives and livelihoods.

While the world rethinks what victory over the virus looks like, what remains clear is the need for a collective roadmap for equitable recovery and to prepare for the next pandemic. Fortunately, there are existing mechanisms that are well-equipped to support the world in building this – entities that have the knowledge, expertise, and global networks necessary to respond to the pandemic, recover from its effects, and prepare for future threats. The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria is one such mechanism that has two decades of experience in combatting the world’s deadliest infectious diseases, and, more recently, contributed significantly to the global COVID-19 response. The result: 50 million lives have been saved.

When the pandemic hit in 2020, the world was unprepared, but existing tools and infrastructure for other diseases like tuberculosis (TB), helped jump-start a global response. However, with diversion of resources away from longstanding infectious diseases to address COVID-19, the world witnessed are resurgence of HIV, TB and malaria. The number of TB deaths globally increased for the first time since 2005 – with a staggering 1.5 million deaths in 2020. There were 69,000 more deaths from malaria in 2020, compared to 2019.  In response, the Global Fund doubled down efforts to help countries respond to the new virus, mitigate its impact on lifesaving HIV, TB and malaria services, and make urgent improvements to health systems. Through these efforts, Global Fund-supported programs have begun to slowly recover from the setbacks caused by COVID-19.

Now more than ever, it is critical that the Global Fund receives the support necessary to continue this important work and get the world back on track to ending the epidemics. Earlier this year, the Global Fund released its investment case for its Seventh Replenishment, calling on donors to help reach the USD$18 billion – the minimum needed to save an estimated 20 million more lives. Due to increased need amid the pandemic, this is about 30% higher than the $14 billion raised at the Global Fund’s Sixth Replenishment in October 2019.

Since this call for funding, civil society organizations in Canada have rallied alongside other organizations from around the world to ensure that donor countries meet the required figure. Among our G7 allies, we have seen the United States, Germany, and Japan announce their support for the Global Fund’s Seventh Replenishment by committing to increase their pledges by 30% from the previous funding cycle. Advocates in Canada are now looking to our government to follow suit.

A coalition of 14 civil society organizations across Canada, including Results Canada, have been at the forefront of this campaign, joining forces to ensure that Canada steps up as leader at this critical moment. Over the past several months, the coalition has engaged in various advocacy activities to make our ask of Canada loud and clear – CAD$1.2 billion to the Global Fund’s Seventh Replenishment, not a penny less. Canadian partners kicked off the campaign with a Week of Action back in May, where participants from across the country met with 40 parliamentarians to gain their support for Canada’s investment in the Global Fund. The coalition then took to the streets at Toronto Pride Parade and, more recently, at Ottawa Pride to show our collective support of the Global Fund, emphasizing the partnership’s efforts to protect the LGBTQ+ community. In July, coalition members attended the International AIDS Conference in Montreal, where we continued to advocate for a fully funded Global Fund. The efforts of this coalition have secured parliamentary support from 50 Members of Parliament and Senators from across all political parties, who see that the Global Fund is critical to ensuring health equity for all.

After months of advocacy, the coalition of Canadian civil society organizations, alongside citizen advocates from across the country and affected communities around the world, are looking to Canada to step up with CAD$1.2 billion at the Global Fund Replenishment Conference in New York City next week. There is no option but to invest strongly in the Global Fund, as millions of lives depend on it. Your move, Canada.

By Dr. Kate Grantham, International Development Consultant and Vice President of CASID

 

With the results of Canada’s recent federal election, Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government has been given another opportunity to advance its widely touted feminist foreign policy. However, this time around, the Liberals face the uphill battle of being a minority government, in a global context where right-wing nationalist and anti-feminist movements are on the rise.

 

Since taking office in 2015, Justin Trudeau’s federal government has made several major announcements demonstrating its commitment to a feminist foreign policy agenda. Most prominently, in June 2017, the government introduced its Feminist International Assistance Policy which “seeks to eradicate poverty and build a more peaceful, more inclusive and more prosperous world… [by] promoting gender equality and empowering women and girls.” Other examples include the government’s decision to make gender equality a centerpiece of its 2018 G7 presidency, its efforts to include gender protections in several recently negotiated free trade agreements, appointing Canada’s first-ever Ambassador for Women, Peace and Security, and committing to invest $1.4 billion over ten years for global initiatives promoting women’s sexual and reproductive health and rights.

 

The government’s ambitions are certainly admirable, and necessary to correct historical inattention to the diverse experiences of women and girls in Canadian foreign policy. Yet realizing a comprehensive feminist approach across all three pillars of Global Affairs Canada’s portfolio – diplomacy, trade and development – presents real challenges, particularly in the current global economic and political climate.

 

Countries in North America, Europe and around the world are witnessing the proliferation of right-wing nationalist and anti-feminist movements, which can be largely attributed as backlash against the perceived threat of a feminist agenda like the one Global Affairs Canada is pushing for.

 

In the United States, just two days after the historical Women’s March on Washington, Donald Trump reinstated the Obama-repealed “global gag rule”, banning funding for organizations that perform abortion services, referrals or advocacy. Trump also expanded the policy to include, for the first-time, non-governmental organizations that support other groups that provide or merely discuss abortion. The current international climate makes Canada’s global leadership on gender equality – and on sexual and reproductive health and rights in particular – a critical and uphill battle.

 

Very real tensions also exist for realizing a comprehensive feminist foreign policy because the objectives of Canadian development, diplomacy and trade sectors are not always neatly aligned. Case in point, the Canadian government faced intense criticism earlier this year for proceeding with a $15 billion sale of light armored vehicles to Saudi Arabia, despite reports those vehicles may be used for military repression, in direct contradiction of feminist principles.

 

Similar tensions exist for Canada’s economic interests abroad, put into sharp focus when the government backtracked on a commitment to create an independent ombudsperson on corporate human rights. This was in spite of evidence of widespread and egregious human rights abuses by Canadian companies and supply chains abroad, including in mining, oil and gas, and garment sectors.

 

Back at home, Canadian public support for international development assistance is seen to be waning in some circles. The promise made by Conservative leader Andrew Scheer to cut Canadian foreign aid spending by 25 per cent if elected signals the deeply politicized and insecure position of Canadian foreign aid spending. Scheer’s announcement was met with alarm bells by those working in the aid sector, who were particularly critical of the misinformation being spread during the campaign. The broader Canadian public, however, remained relatively disengaged from the issue. While most Canadians agree that we have a duty to support the health, education and economic opportunity for the world’s poorest and most marginalized, public opinion research from the Canadian Partnership for Women and Children’s Health (CanWaCH) finds that nearly one quarter of Canadians disagree with this idea.

 

If the federal government has any serious ambition of moving the needle on Canadian foreign aid spending from the current 0.28 per cent of GNI to meet Canada’s decades old commitment of 0.7 per cent, then it must work to generate broader public education and support for the goals of a feminist international assistance policy.

 

These are real challenges and tensions that need to be tackled head on in order for Canada to realize the critical ambitions of its feminist foreign policy agenda.

 

The Summit on Canada’s Global Leadership, taking place in Ottawa on November 27 and 28, is a unique opportunity to discuss Canada’s foreign policy with individuals working across the development, diplomacy and trade nexus. Several different plenaries and breakout sessions will address this issue, with diverse speakers from Canada and internationally scheduled to take part in the program.

 

The opening plenary on November 27, “Setting the tone: What should Canada’s foreign policy agenda be?” will feature Shirley Kimmayong (Founder of Hagiyo Organization Inc.), Shirley Pryce (Founder of the Jamaican Household Workers Union) and Hugh Segal (Former Conservative Senator) discussing a shared vision for an ambitious and impactful Canadian foreign policy agenda.

 

On November 28, Canada’s Ambassador for Women, Peace and Security, Jacqueline O’Neill, and General Jonathan Vance, Canadian Armed Forces Chief of the Defence Staff, will headline a post-lunch plenary on “Strengthening Women’s Participation on Peace Processes and Conflict Resolution” moderated by Ketty Nivyabandi of the Nobel Women’s Initiative. This session will address the intersections of gender and women’s leadership in global challenges to peace and security, and how these intersections can inform Canadian foreign policy.

 

Multiple breakout sessions will also touch on the issue of feminist foreign policy, including “Beijing+25: Influencing priorities and opportunities for engagement” on November 27, and on November 28, “Feminism(s) in gender equality and women’s empowerment programming” and “Justice climatique féministe”.

Dr. Kate Grantham is an international development consultant specializing in feminist research and approaches. She is also Vice President of the Canadian Association for the Study of International Development (CASID). Follow @KateGrantham on Twitter.