Mr. Speaker, on behalf of the Minister for International Co-operation, the Hon. Pierre Pettigrew, I would like to remind the House that today is International Women's Day. The status of women remains a serious concern, particularly in developing countries. This is an enormous challenge, because the human rights of half of the world's population are at stake and, in many cases, the concept of human rights may even include the right to live.
But we have come a long way, and the recent UN conference on women held in Beijing was an important milestone, which followed many others. I am referring to the milestones set through our international development co-operation program. Canada has long been a leader in the advancement of women, as the OECD calls it. We must all support this program of international co-operation, if we want it to continue promoting equality for women around the world.