On 7 December 2017, Canada’s G7 Sherpa Peter Boehm held an event in Toronto to announce Canada’s plans for the 2018 G7, which Canada will lead beginning in January. During this discussion, he commented on the fact that Gender Equality will be a core focus area for the G7 discussions. Of note was his comments directly relating to the work of CAPPD: “We strongly believe that sexual and reproductive health rights are important for women and girls, not just in development policy but all the way through.”

On December 6th, Canada’s Minister of International Development and La Francaphonie collaborated with Action Canada for Sexual Health and Rights to host the new Executive Director of the UNFPA, Dr. Natalia Kanem on her first official visit to Canada, in honour of the launch of the UNFPA’s 2017 State of World Population (SWOP) Report entitlted “Worlds Apart: Reproductive Health and Rights in an Ange of Inequality.” The occasion was marked with a parliamentary dinner with CAPPD Chair Dr.

Global Affairs Canada, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and Action Canada for Sexual Health and Rights cordially invite you to the Canadian launch of the UNFPA’s 2017 State of World Population report. The event will bring together UNFPA Executive Director Dr Natalia Kanem, Action Canada Executive Director Sandeep Prasad, IPPF-WHR Board Chair Jovana Ríos Cisnero, and Community Advocate RJ Jones to discuss the actions required for a more equal world including access to sexual and reproductive health and rights information and services.

On 9 June 2017, Minister Bibeau announced Canada’s new Feminist International Assistance Policy, which situates intersectional feminist human rights frameworks at the core of development and humanitarian aid. As well, the new policy directs funding and programs to focus on the most vulnerable and underserved people throughout the world, wherever they may be.

On March 2, the Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, and Sweden hosted a summit to strengthen support and funding for the She Decides initiative. Initiated by the Dutch government, the initiative was created to support organizations affected by Trump’s expanded Global Gag Rule and to encourage increased bilateral assistance towards sexual and reproductive health. 50 governments attended the summit during which Canada pledged $20 million.

Organized by a small group of Canadian organizations, the Future Planning Initiative emerged out of a meeting of experts representing Canadian and international civil society organizations, government representatives, publicly elected officials, activists, and the private sector. The goals of the meeting were to develop a shared understanding of issues related to SRHR (including global gaps), to explore options for a collective approach to Canada’s SRHR policy over the next five years, and to build momentum for such an approach.

Global Affairs Canada’s International Assistance Review announced a public review and consultations to renew Canada’s international assistance policy and funding framework in 2016 to support the 2030 Agenda on Sustainable Development. The consultation process engaged a wide range of Canadians and international partners, including Canadian NGOs, donor and partner governments, youth, people in developing countries, and experts in the field of international assistance with over 15,000 people and partners engaged in the consultations, resulting in more than 10,600 written contributions.