Foreign Affairs committee  I'm not really in a position to comment on proposals that are currently under review, and that's one that's under review.

Foreign Affairs committee  Thank you for the question. Well, the primary killer of mothers is at birth: it is the complications, the hemorrhaging, and the various things around birth. So that, I think, would privilege the importance of having skilled attendants in the lead-up to the birth, during birth, and shortly after, because that's when lives are lost for mothers and also for newborns.

Foreign Affairs committee  So you know it's dangerous.

Foreign Affairs committee  Back to me.

Foreign Affairs committee  Thank you very much for the question. I'm going to ask my colleague Diane Jacovella to talk about some specifics around what Canada and CIDA have been doing with immunization and micronutrients. It is an area where Canada has been a leader, and we are also a leader in terms of malarial bed nets.

Foreign Affairs committee  I don't have all the details in front of me. I have read the study myself, and I think you're right, there are encouraging signs in it. I drew your attention to it insofar as we do have evidence to show that if you focus on maternal and child health, you can make a difference, and we have seen progress.

Foreign Affairs committee  Thank you very much for the question. The government has indicated it will provide new funding toward maternal and child health that would be over and beyond what we are currently spending in the area. We would hope that others as well would put incremental resources toward this effort to really make a difference.

Foreign Affairs committee  Maybe I'll just answer in a couple of steps, if you will. In terms of meeting commitments, the government has already met its commitments to double aid assistance to Africa. It did so last year and it will do so again this year. It will also meet its Gleneagles commitment from the G8 to double its overall international assistance, and it will do so this year, in 2010-11.

Foreign Affairs committee  Well, CIDA in the past has never funded abortion services directly--

Foreign Affairs committee  --yes--and we won't in the future fund abortion services directly. We do provide support to countries who in their health systems...and through that there may be, where it's legally available and voluntarily accepted, abortion services. We will continue to fund health systems, and we will continue to fund organizations.

Foreign Affairs committee  That's right. There's no change in the policy.

Foreign Affairs committee  There's no change in the policy.

Foreign Affairs committee  That's correct. There's no change in CIDA's programming and there's no change in how we will approach these issues. However, the government has made clear that as part of their G8 contribution, they will focus on other areas, a range of areas to be determined. It could include family planning, but it will not support directly abortion services.

Foreign Affairs committee  Correct. CIDA's programming will remain the same as what we're doing now.

Foreign Affairs committee  No, the policy has not changed. I think the Prime Minister's focus on maternal and child health for the G8 summit speaks to the points you just made, about the importance of focusing on women and children. In fact, I think many would argue that maternal mortality is a litmus test of how well functioning health systems and health services are in any country, so I don't think anything has changed.