You did a pretty good job.
Thank you, Mr. Chair and committee members, for the invitation to appear before you today as part of the pre-budget consultations. Our message to you is very simple: Canada's international assistance program should invest significantly more in women's rights organizations. Specifically, we are asking the federal government to invest $2.2 billion of our international assistance spending over 10 years.
The MATCH International Women's Fund is Canada's only global fund for women, girls, and trans people. Working at the intersection of women's rights and innovation, we fund creative and courageous women and their organizations to dismantle barriers, challenge perceptions, and change the world.
Our recommendation is not new. In fact, increased support for grassroots women's organizations was a recommendation from the House Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development in its 2016 study on women, peace and security. Furthermore, the G7's Gender Equality Advisory Council recommended new and substantial financing for women's rights organizations, including long-term, predictable and core support to build organizational capacity.
Our dollar-figure ask is also not unprecedented. In previous years, Canada has made significant global investments in maternal, child and newborn health. In fact, these programs totalled approximately $2.2 billion over 10 years. We urge you to make a similar commitment to women's rights organizations globally.
Why would this be an effective investment? First, these organizations are the ones that drive change on the ground. For example, the MATCH fund supports HarassMap in Egypt. This small organization originally used a geo-mapping technology to document rape and harassment on the streets of Cairo during the Arab Spring, but it didn't end there. The initiative was so popular that it grew to cover the whole country.
These activists started participating in national conversations. They engaged universities, developing the first-ever sexual harassment policy for Cairo University. They recruited teams of men to hold conversations with other men. They worked with Uber to train drivers on appropriate conduct. HarrassMap is just one example of how women's organizations work at so many levels—policy dialogue, social norms, delivering services to women—all the while developing new and innovative approaches.
A second reason is that despite their effectiveness, women's rights organizations in developing countries lack the funding to put their plans into action. Global resources are just not invested in these organizations. A survey conducted several years ago found that, on average, these organizations operate on less than $20,000 U.S. per year.
Third, to date, these groups have not received Canadian support. In the last year we have data for, women's rights organizations received only 0.3% of Canada's gender equality-focused assistance. That's not 0.3% of overall assistance, but 0.3% just of the funding going to gender equality issues, already representing a small percentage of the entire development budget.
Recently, we have seen some positive moves to reverse these trends. The 2017 announcement of the women's voice and leadership initiative was a key first step. As well, earlier this year Minister Bibeau signalled her government's intention to invest up to $300 million to leverage new resources to support these grassroots organizations.
These two announcements are a good start. However, additional investments are needed to put Canada in a global leadership position.
Increasing overall ODA investments would allow for more funding flexibility. We also recommend improving the current Global Affairs Canada funding structures so that resources to women's rights organizations can be delivered more quickly and effectively.
In conclusion, Canada's international assistance is a crucial reflection of Canadian values. How much we invest and where we invest it are vital indicators of the extent to which our actions in the world correspond to what we believe in as Canadians.
A national survey of Canadian millennials commissioned by the MATCH fund will be released on Monday. It demonstrates widespread support for Canada to play a lead role in bringing about global gender equality. Stay tuned for the details.
Ambitious new investments in women's rights organizations and feminist movements would truly allow Canada to claim the laurel and label of global leader.
Thank you.