Policy Updates

On April 15, 2024, Canadian Minister of International Development Ahmed Hussen participated in the International Humanitarian Conference for Sudan and its Neighbours, where he announced CAD132million (US$96 million) in international assistance funding to Sudan and neighbouring Central African Republic, Chad, Ethiopia, and South Sudan.

The announcement included nearly CAD101 million (US$73 million) in humanitarian assistance and nearly CAD32 million (US$23 million) in development assistance amid the ongoing armed conflict in Sudan. The funding is slated to provide crisis-affected people with emergency health services, food and nutrition assistance, protection services for gender-based violence survivors, and other assistance including shelter, water, and sanitation services. The development assistance will support critical programming in SRHR and education infrastructure.

On April 11, 2024, the US announced that it will provide an additional US$25 million in assistance to refugees in the Uganda. The resources from both the Department of State and USAID will go to the UN High Commission on Refugees and the WFP.

The resources will be used to support food, health care, and education, as well as other emergency support to refugees whom have fled South Sudan, the DRC, Somalia, and Sudan. The US noted that Uganda has the highest number of refugees in Africa, having received more than 130,000 refugees in 2023.

The US separately called out a 2024 ruling of the Ugandan court, which had upheld a controversial anti-homosexual law, stating that the US was committed to ensuring that all assistance would be delivered without discrimination.

In advance of the Paris International Humanitarian Conference for Sudan and it Neighbors, Power also announced an additional US$100 million in emergency assistance for the 25 million people who have been affected by the civil war in Sudan. Five million people are close to famine and eight million have been displaced. USAID also called out the violence being perpetrated on the people of Sudan by both sides of the armed conflict. The emergency assistance will include food, nutrition, and other services. This brings total US humanitarian assistance for Sudan to over US$1 billion.

On April 11, 2024, Canada’s Minister of International Development Ahmed Hussen announced CAD142 million (US$103 million) in funding for projects in the DRC and Benin to advance gender equality and women’s rights.

Six projects valued at a total of nearly CAD75 million (US$55 million) were announced for the DRC. The projects will improve access to health resources for women and girls, promote inclusive governance practices, improve women’s inclusion in public and democratic life, and help prevent and respond to SGBV. Funding also included humanitarian programming that will address critical needs arising from the conflict in eastern DRC.

Five projects valued at a total of CAD68 million (US$49 million) were announced for Benin. The initiatives are slated to increase women’s economic resilience, promote a greener economy and agricultural sector, address SGBV, and strengthen inclusive health systems.

On April 11, 2024, the European Commission and the Belgian Council Presidency hosted the Global Gateway High-Level Event on Education.

Grounded in EU pledges from the 2022 TES, the program prioritized green and digital learning, teaching quality, and finance for education among others. Notably, FLN, one of the key foci of the 2022 TES, did not feature in the agenda.

In addition to high-level meetings and discussions, the event included EUR245 million (US$264 million) several pledges from the EU, including:

• EUR110 million (US$119 million) for implementation of Zambia's National Development Plan and Free Education Initiative, which aim to improve quality of early, primary, and secondary education and increase the attendance and completion rates of girls in school;
• EUR75 million (US$81 million) co-financed by the EU and Team Europe for employment-related skills and vocational training with a focus on women and girls' education in SSA. Specific partner countries were not named;
• EUR15 million (US$16 million) and EUR27 million (US$29 million) were allocated to youth mobility projects with a focus on EU-Africa mobility and intra-African mobility and green skills, respectively; and
• EUR18 million (US$20 million) for building research capacity related to medicines and vaccines in Nigeria.

On April 11, 2024, during the 8^th IPCI, Norway announced NOK589 million (US$54.3 million) in core funding to UNFPA in 2024.

Norwegian Minister of International Development Anne Beathe Tvinnereim noted that UNFPA is one of Norway’s key partners to promote the health, dignity, and rights of women and adolescents. Access to safe abortion, LGBTQI+ rights, sexual education and violence against women, indigenous rights were among the topics discussed during the conference.

The funding will enable UNFPA to respond to the many crises affecting women and adolescents, including the conflicts in Gaza and Sudan. The funding will also support work to uphold and advocate for women's rights.

On March 28, 2024, the IPCI/IPCD announced that IPCI 2024 would be held on April 10-12, 2024, in Oslo, Norway.

The event marks the 30^th anniversary of the Cairo Conference, where both women and sexual rights became part of the parliamentarians’ agenda. The ICPD or Cairo Conference was a ten-day conference held in November 1994, where representatives of the nations of the world discussed the future of the world’s population.

The 8^th IPCI will gather around 200 parliamentarians, ministers, UN experts, civil society leaders and other stakeholders.

The conference agenda includes on the following topics:

• How global trends such as demographic diversity and the climate crisis impacts the ability to achieve universal access to SRHR;
• The impact of the growing threat of digital violence on women leaders; and
• The challenges facing the funding landscape for SRHR as governments’ priorities come under threat from security concerns.

During the conference, Norway is also expected to announce its core contribution to UNFPA, one of Norway’s key partners in the fight for women’s and young people’s health and rights.

On April 7, 2024, Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong announced AUD45.5 million (US30 million ) for the improvement of health workforce skills and improve disease response and surveillance.

In total, six initiatives were announced to improve health systems in Southeast Asia and the Pacific, with a focus on disease surveillance and response, including AMR. The initiatives also included a focus on supporting individuals with disabilities.

Providers of the new programs included a range of universities and expert organizations in Australia and abroad. The funding for the initiative was part of the Australian Government’s Partnerships for a Healthy Region initiative.

On April 4, 2024, the Dutch House of Representatives debated the Dutch Global Health Strategy, 18 months post-publication. Despite recent development budget cuts, Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation Geoffrey van Leeuwen and Minister for Medical Care Pia Dijkstra affirmed broad support for the strategy.

The strategy aims to strengthen global health systems, tackle health impacts of climate change, and prepare against future pandemics. CSOs and members of Parliament expressed concerns in relation to the previously announced development budget cuts of EUR3.5 billion (US$3.8 billion) over 2023-2026, as detrimental to effective implementation of the strategy.

van Leeuwen and Dijkstra reiterated their commitment to the strategy, emphasizing the strategy’s broader goals, including safeguarding the Netherlands’ own health and economic stability.

Emphasis during the debate centered on sexual health and SRHR and access to basic health care to uphold human rights and gender equality, urging sustained strategic partnerships. Focusing on access to medicines, Dijkstra agreed to re-examine the Socially Responsible Licensing toolkit to include how private companies can enhance accessibility and affordability of medicines for people in low-income countries.

Members of Parliament inquired about strategy implementation and monitoring. van Leeuwen committed to providing progress reports to the House of Representatives by year-end, along with policy coherence updates on the Dutch Global Health Strategy and ecological footprint reduction commitments by May 15, 2024.

On April 3, 2024, due to deepening humanitarian needs in Lebanon, USAID announced an additional US$67 million in assistance to the people of Lebanon and Syrian refugees in the region.

The resources are slated to provide food, WASH, health care, and psychosocial and humanitarian support.

The ongoing humanitarian crises in the region have been exacerbated by the conflict in Gaza, which has internally displaced 91,000 Lebanese people. Food assistance will be delivered through the WFP. Health services will be provided through International Medical Corps and Relief International.

USAID, which already has provided over US$202 million in food assistance in FYs 2022 and 2023, called upon other donors to help meet the needs of the most vulnerable as demand outpaces resources.

On April 3, 2024, Oxfam Canada reported that people in northern Gaza are surviving on an average of 245 calories of food per day and called on the Canadian government to put greater pressure on Israel to support critical international assistance access for civilians.

The availability of food for Gazans at the time of reporting represented less than 12% of the recommended daily intake needed and is resulting in an imminent famine in the region. The situation is exacerbated by Israeli blockades that prevent the majority of food trucks entering Gaza from reaching civilians.

Oxfam Canada’s Executive Director Lauren Ravon stated that Israel is ignoring both the International Court of Justice order to prevent genocide as well as recent UN Security Council resolutions. She asserted that Canada must step up its pressure by immediately suspending all arms export permits to Israel to secure an immediate ceasefire and prevent famine.

Oxfam called for a permanent ceasefire, the return of all hostages, and access to humanitarian assistance to restore nutritious food systems, health services, and water and sanitation infrastructure for Palestinian civilians.