Thank you very much. Good afternoon.
I'm Sarah Fountain Smith, director general, international organizations, and I'm here today on behalf of Diane Jacovella, who is the assistant deputy minister for global issues and development at Global Affairs Canada. She is currently out of the country; otherwise, she would be here today.
I'm accompanied by my colleague Heather Jeffrey, who is director general for international humanitarian assistance.
I'm here to tell you a little bit about the global issues and development branch's mandate, which is focused in three broad areas.
The first is providing policy direction and specialized knowledge on global issues for the department and managing global investments in these areas. The second is to deliver effective, needs-based, humanitarian assistance in response to complex emergencies and natural disasters in developing countries. The third is to lead Canada's engagement with multilateral and global organizations, including the United Nations, international financial institutions, the Commonwealth, and La Francophonie.
As part of our work to provide policy direction and specialized knowledge on global issues within the department, we provide guidance on such areas as health, nutrition, environment, governance, child protection, economic growth, gender equality, education, and food security. We also develop and deliver innovative global programming to advance these global issues with a focus on helping the poorest and most vulnerable.
For example, our branch is supporting Canada's commitment to improve the health and nutrition of women, children, and adolescents. We oversee the coordination and management of Canada's $3.5-billion contribution for the period 2015-2020. As part of this commitment, we're seeking opportunities to support the full range of sexual and reproductive health services for women. We're also actively engaged in Every Woman Every Child, a high-level movement that mobilizes and intensifies international and national action to address the major health challenges facing women, children, and adolescents.
We also work to advance the rights of women and girls in a number of key areas. These include the elimination of violence and harmful practices against women and girls, including child, early, and forced marriage, as well as supporting women's economic empowerment.
Our branch is also responsible for ensuring that programming on climate change benefits the poorest and most vulnerable, including helping to deliver the $2.65 billion in climate financing announced by the Prime Minister last November, which will contribute to achieving sustainable economic growth in developing countries.
Additionally, we provide support to our geographic branches within the department in our areas of focus.
The second key role we play is to deliver effective, needs-based humanitarian assistance in response to complex emergencies and natural disasters in developing countries. We ensure that our provision of humanitarian assistance is based on needs in response to both immediate and ongoing natural disasters and conflicts in fragile states, for example, our response to the Syrian–Iraqi crisis.
Currently, we are implementing the recently announced multi-year commitment to provide much-needed humanitarian assistance, such as urgent health services, water, shelter, protection, and food, for the most vulnerable people caught in conflicts in the Middle East. We also oversee the Syria emergency relief fund, which matches donations by Canadians.
Canada's new commitment of $840 million in humanitarian assistance funding over three years will allow Canada to meet the needs of more vulnerable people, more effectively. It will also ensure that we remain among the top humanitarian donors helping to alleviate suffering caused by the crises in the region.
Our branch also leads on Canada's engagement with multilateral and global organizations, including the United Nations, international financial institutions, the Commonwealth, and La Francophonie. This includes advancing Canada's priorities and values within these organizations, including by leading and sponsoring initiatives and resolutions on key priority issues and promoting accountability and transparency in the governance of these organizations.
We're working actively to implement Canada's renewed commitment to multilateralism and leadership at the United Nations. The visit of the UN Secretary-General to Ottawa last week was an important milestone in this regard.
We also manage Canada's role in multilateral development banks, such as the World Bank and the African Development Bank, to address poverty reduction through inclusive, sustainable economic growth and by mobilizing private sector engagement, working together with Finance Canada. Our role is to ensure that these banks focus on their core development mandate and are well governed. We do this by working with them to improve their accountability and transparency.
In conclusion, the global Issues and development branch supports the work of the department by providing policy leadership and specialized knowledge on global issues, as well as by supporting global investments, delivering effective humanitarian assistance, and overseeing engagement with multilateral and global institutions. Our focus is on assisting the poorest and most vulnerable in order to make a tangible difference in the lives of those living in developing countries.
Thank you.