Minister Hussen concludes trip to Colombia and announces development assistance funding

The Honourable Ahmed Hussen announced nearly $22.5 million in funding for development programming while visiting Colombia, from August 28 to 31, 2023. Details of the programming follow.

Projects highlighting Canada’s leadership in gender equality:

Project: Caring Societies: Sharing Care Responsibilities to Advance Gender Equality
Partner: UN Women
Funding amount: $6,000,000 (2022 to 2027)

This project will deliver technical assistance to national and municipal governments to build fair and inclusive local care systems and to pilot care solutions, in alliance with women’s and civil society organizations and the private sector. This funding is part of Canada’s $100 million commitment to help address unpaid care work issues in low- and middle-income countries. In Colombia, the project will provide direct support to the national care system, as well as to local governments in Antioquia, Villavicencio, Cumbal and Bogotá.

Project: Budgeting for Equality: An Alliance for Public Management Planning with a Gender Perspective   
Partner: UN Women
Funding amount: $1,500,000 (2022 to 2024)

This project will offer gender-responsive budgeting and technical assistance to partners, national government departments and local governments. The project also supports women’s rights organizations in their advocacy for public investments in support of gender equality in the design of a national development plan and annual national budgets. This project will help 7 ministries and 10 local governments plan and budget using a gender-lens.

This project, initially approved for $1 million, was recently extended by 6 months and its funding increased to $1.5 million.

Canada’s Global Initiative for Vaccine Equity projects in Colombia

Canada’s Global Initiative for Vaccine Equity (CanGIVE) is Canada’s $317 million signature Global Initiative for Vaccine Equity, which aims to increase COVID-19 vaccination among high-priority groups, strengthen health systems and build vaccine manufacturing capacity in 12 countries.

Project: COVID-19 Vaccination Delivery and Health System Strengthening 
Partner: UNICEF
Funding amount: $7,956,285 for Colombia (2022 to 2024)

This project aims to increase equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines for high-priority groups and strengthen health systems by enhancing cold chain networks and logistics support for vaccine delivery, integrating COVID-19 vaccination in routine health services and improving gender-sensitive water, sanitation and hygiene systems in Colombia.

Project: Improving Equitable Access and Vaccination Coverage Against COVID-19 
Partner: Pan American Health Organization (PAHO)
Funding amount: $7,000,000 for Colombia (2022 to 2024)

This project aims to improve equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines and vaccination coverage in Colombia, particularly for populations in situations of vulnerability, including women and girls. The partnership with PAHO helps reinforce regulatory systems to ensure vaccines are safe and effective, increase Colombia’s capacity to purchase, transport and store vaccines, and train health workers.