Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
Good morning, everyone.
For a number of years, Canada has been one of the major partners in Mali's development. On average, since 2007, Canada has provided over $100 million annually to support Mali's development. Until recently, Mali was moving ahead on the road to development in a number of areas, especially in education and management of public finances, thanks in part to Canada's support.
For example, Canada's support has increased the percentage of infants under one year old who are fully immunized against five childhood diseases from 69% in 2007 to 92% in 2010. Malian school children have had access to textbooks which they never had before. Canadian assistance has put 1.2 million new textbooks in the hands of Malian girls and boys over the last few years. Following the suspension of aid programs involving direct payments to the Government of Mali in March 2012, CIDA has continued to provide critical support to help the most vulnerable Malians in the areas of food security, nutrition, immunization, and access to basic health and educational services.
For instance, CIDA is currently providing funding through international and Canadian organizations working in Mali to ensure the continuation of critical services, such as health and education services to vulnerable populations in the south of the country.
Those initiatives are aimed at both strengthening the country's stability and preparing Malians to withstand any future shocks. This kind of support is key for avoiding social unrest in the south of the country, where 90% of the population lives and where the transitional government's seat is located. Stability in the south makes it possible to focus more on the country's north, where the security situation is worrisome.
CIDA is also providing substantial support through its humanitarian partners to respond to the needs of people affected by the ongoing food and nutrition crisis and the more recent conflict in Mali. In the last year, Canadian funding has helped our humanitarian partners achieve the following results: food and nutrition assistance to some 1.3 million people in Mali, as well as to 142,000 refugees in Niger, Mauritania and Burkina Faso; life-saving water and sanitation assistance to more than 49,000 people; life-saving activities, such as the screening and referral of children suffering from malnutrition, as well as activities designed to protect livelihoods and enhance resilience, such as the distribution of seeds and tools to 58,000 people; and finally, cash transfers and cash for work programming for 3,000 vulnerable households affected by both the food crisis and the conflict in northern Mali.
As my colleague from DFAIT mentioned, earlier this week, on January 29, at the African Union Donors' Conference on Mali in Addis Ababa, Minister Fantino announced an additional $13 million for a number of initiatives aimed at the most pressing of these humanitarian needs. These include support for emergency food and nutrition assistance and shelter, primary health care, water and sanitation to people displaced by the conflict.
In conclusion, the deployment of the African-led international support mission and efforts to address the security situation must be considered as part of a broader process of restoring the legitimacy and stability of the Malian government, and with concerted efforts to address the current situation in the country.
Although our suspension of direct aid to the Government of Mali remains in effect, we will continue our significant development programming working with partners to address the needs of vulnerable Malians, particularly women and children. We will also continue to respond to the humanitarian situation as appropriate.