Mr. Speaker, I rise today to celebrate international development and development practitioners who work to make this world a better place.
The year 2015 promises to be transformative with the international community coming together to set a new global development agenda with opportunities for achieving gender equality and the empowerment of women, a universal climate agreement and a 10-year plan to make the world safer from natural hazards.
As we work toward these goals, let us not forget the people of the Central African Republic, Iraq, South Sudan and Syria. Let us commit to doing all we can to protect civilians, end human suffering and support peace. And let us help West Africa become more resilient as countries recover from Ebola.
This week serves as a reminder that the poorest and most fragile countries still need our assistance and that together we can eliminate extreme poverty.