Mr. Chair, I wish to inform you that I will be sharing my time with the member for Kanata—Carleton.
I am pleased to speak to the House today about extending our military contribution in Ukraine, especially Canadian development co-operation.
As the first western country to recognize Ukraine in 1991, Canada was among the first international donors to provide significant development aid to this country. Independent evaluations have proven many times that Canada has a comparative advantage thanks to the knowledge, language skills, and expertise of the Ukrainian Canadian community. In addition, Canada has an ability to promote innovation and to adapt to a political and socio-economic context that is constantly evolving.
When Ukrainian citizens took charge of the future of their country with the revolution of dignity in 2013, they argued in favour of democratic reforms and integrating with Europe.
Ukraine, which was facing a huge political crisis, the risk of economic collapse, and aggression from the east, seized the opportunity to determine its own future. Canada was among the first donors to increase its support to Ukraine in order to help that country defend its territorial integrity, stabilize its economy, and lay the foundations for long-term development in terms of independence, democracy, and prosperity.
Since January 2014, Canada has contributed approximately $700 million in technical and financial assistance to strengthen security, deliver critical humanitarian support, stabilize the economy, and support Ukraine's efforts to implement profound and comprehensive democratic and economic reforms.
Canada is very concerned about the individuals who have been affected by the conflict in eastern Ukraine and by the increased risk of poverty. We are committed to delivering effective humanitarian assistance in a timely manner, in accordance with the humanitarian principle of impartiality, humanity, neutrality, and independence.
The Ukrainian government has reported nearly 1.7 million internally displaced people. Those individuals need support, especially since over 73% of those displaced people consist of single-mother families. Canada's humanitarian response involves meeting the needs of the most vulnerable, particularly the specific needs of women and girls.
Since the beginning of the crisis, through our humanitarian partners, Canada has provided more than $27 million in humanitarian assistance to help millions of vulnerable people who are directly affected by this armed conflict. This assistance includes several components including basic health services, food aid, protection, shelter, and other essential support measures.
Canada also plays a key role by providing the Ukrainian government support in developing policies to help it respond to this conflict. To deal with this external aggression, Ukraine must adopt reconstruction and peacekeeping measures.
The need for humanitarian assistance remains high. This need is exacerbated by the fact that the country does not have control over a significant part of its territory and millions of people are trapped, with nowhere to go.
From an economic standpoint, Ukraine posted 2% growth in 2016, which is quite impressive given the tough recession the country has gone through over the past two years. Ukraine has also made unprecedented efforts to reform its public administration and its security and justice sector, while promoting decentralization.
Ukraine has significantly strengthened its anti-corruption measures by creating some key institutions and increasing transparency especially in its public procurement systems. In terms of macroeconomics, Canada has helped Ukraine avoid economic disaster by strengthening the International Monetary Fund's extended credit facility and providing long-term technical support to the National Bank of Ukraine and to the department.
I would be pleased to take any questions about other aspects or key points.