We were there with a delegation. The theme this year was a spotlight on women and girls in rural and remote northern communities and the challenges they face. We thought it was an excellent theme for Canada as well, so we chose it as our own theme for International Women's Week in Canada.
I mentioned in my opening remarks that there are three million Canadian women living in about 5,000 rural and remote communities. They experience a different reality from women who live in cities. They're more isolated and they have less access to services. Because of that they can sometimes experience more difficulty in getting the support they need, especially when it comes to economic security, and physical safety, of course, if they're experiencing violence.
It was a good opportunity to highlight what we can do in Canada. I was really glad that this was the theme. It gave us an opportunity at Status of Women Canada, through the women's program, to make connections with groups across the country that we hadn't made connections with before.
We put out a targeted call for proposals, and we had almost 250 responses from groups in small towns that have never really contacted us before. Now we have a connection with them. If we can't help them, we can get them the information that may help them. I think it was a win-win situation all around.
Of course at the UN a lot of countries were focused on the issue of poverty that women are facing in third world countries. As I said, here in Canada we're dealing more with issues of isolation that women face in rural and remote communities.
It was a good meeting for Canada, and we participated in a number of different round tables while we were there. I co-chaired a round table with some organizations that are doing work to involve men and boys in a dialogue to end violence against women and girls. That was very fruitful.
Beyond that, of course, we had bilateral meetings with some ministers from other countries to discuss some of the initiatives they're working on and share some of the things Canada is working on.