The Government of Canada, through Care Canada, has committed $9.4 million, to strengthen the education ecosystem focusing on the capacities of adolescent girls and young women (aged 12 to 22 years) in Zimbabwe.
The project that will run from 2019-23 will target socio-economic barriers that prohibit girls’ sustained engagement in secondary education or training and their successful transition to adulthood. The project proposes to bring together the school community to define characteristics and systems that can build schools that are risk-aware, resilient, safe and innovative.
The $9.4 million committed to Zimbabwe is part of $400 million committed by Canada as part of the $3.8 billion mobilized during the Charlevoix Declaration on Quality Education for Girls, Adolescent Girls and Women in Developing Countries, a key outcome of the 2018 G7 Summit in Charlevoix.
These projects aim to dismantle barriers and improve women and girls’ equitable access to a quality education; to invest in quality education systems; and to support skills development and sex-dis-aggregated education and gender equality data, especially for women and girls in fragile, conflict and crisis situations, including in refugee-hosting countries. The results will lead to improved learning outcomes and employability among women, adolescent girls and girls, including those with disabilities.
On July 4 to 5, 2019, the Honourable Maryam Monsef, Minister of International Development and Minister for Women and Gender Equality, attended G7 development ministerial meetings in Paris, France, where she met with her development counterparts and with education Ministers from other G7 countries. They discussed ways to fight inequality and reiterated the importance of gender equality and women’s economic empowerment to build a more peaceful, more inclusive and more prosperous world.
These projects will adopt a safe and inclusive education approach that will advance gender equality and support the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. The projects demonstrate strong alignment with Canada’s Feminist International Assistance Policy and its six action areas.
Over the course of the two days of meetings, the G7 development heads of delegations endorsed four declarations calling for attention to gender equality and youth and women in fragile and conflict-affected states, particularly in the Sahel. Ministers emphasized the need for strong partnerships and innovative approaches to tackle fragility, poverty and financing for sustainable development, and to enhance the effectiveness of G7 development cooperation efforts, with a focus on rural youth employment in the Sahel region.
