Canada is investing more than $4.7 billion over 9 years (2016-2025) in a whole-of-government effort to respond to crises in Iraq and Syria, and their impact on Lebanon, Jordan and the region.
This assistance has four priority areas:
1. Empowering women and girls and advancing gender equality
Women and girls in the Middle East are generally more disadvantaged compared to those in other middle-income countries. Conflicts in Iraq and Syria have diminished the meaningful participation of women in all spheres and have intensified gender-based violence. Empowering women and girls and advancing gender equality is the core of our development assistance. This is instrumental to achieving more inclusive institutions and longer-term stability.
To do this, our assistance is supporting women’s active engagement in political, social, and economic development. This includes providing training for key female leaders and strengthening governance systems to ensure women’s voices are heard and priorities are addressed. In Jordan and Iraq, we are helping ensure that women and girls not only have improved access to municipal services, but that they are fully included in planning and ongoing decision-making.
Our development programming targets efforts to prevent and respond to sexual and gender-based violence. We are training health managers to deliver effective sexual and reproductive health services and supporting women and girls to advocate for justice for violations of their rights, including against sexual and gender-based violence.
In line with UN Security Council Resolution 1325, development programming is also helping to improve women’s role in peace and security. This includes efforts to assist Jordan and Iraq as they implement their own National Action Plans on Women, Peace, and Security and by working to improve women’s participation in governance, reconciliation and peace processes.
2. Supporting effective and accountable governance
The governments of Jordan, Iraq and Lebanon require strategies, plans and programs to address the current and future crises and strains facing their countries. Much of the region’s basic infrastructure (such as roads, schools and waste management) and natural resources (such as water) have been destroyed, damaged or under immense pressure due to violent conflict or large movements of displaced persons. Our development programming is helping local institutions (such as ministries and municipal authorities) to build, maintain and rehabilitate infrastructure and manage natural resources in a more sustainable and equitable manner.
We are supporting the innovative Global Concessional Financing Facility. This allows the governments of Jordan and Lebanon to access low-interest loans for critical investments in large-scale infrastructure and public service projects that benefit refugees and host communities (e.g. education, health, roads and job creation).
This builds the resilience of these countries against the physical, economic, and social shocks of the refugee crisis and helps ensure the longer-term well-being of vulnerable populations within their borders. In Jordan, we are helping municipalities respond to the impacts of Syrian refugee inflows and the needs of local populations through improved infrastructure development and management.
Local institutions must also be able to support and respond to the needs and aspirations of the local population. In Iraq, we are helping improve the effectiveness and accountability of governance by sharing expertise in federalism. This includes models and best practices for managing fiscal relations between all levels of government. We are also working to strengthen the voices of key female leaders and to enhance the role of women in decision-making. Addressing these issues is helping to target ongoing sources of tension.
3. Improving the accessibility, quality and sustainability of gender-responsive social services (including education)
Vital basic services, such as education, health, water and sanitation, are facing tremendous strains due to:
- ongoing conflict
- millions of refugees and displaced persons
- limited and/or weak capacity
- economic shocks
If these systems can be strengthened and made more resilient to ongoing and future crises, the individuals and communities who depend on them will be more able to resist the negative effects of crises.
Our support to improve access to quality services focuses on the most vulnerable, in particular women and girls. In Syria, we are supporting women’s access to economic opportunities and resources through support to technical and vocational training. We are supporting research into women’s access to housing, land and property rights inside Syria.
Canadian development assistance is also supporting system-wide strengthening of the public education systems in both Lebanon and Jordan. We support projects that strengthen the ministries of education, improve teacher training, and improve school environments. This ensures that every child, regardless of nationality, has access to quality formal education.
In Jordan, our assistance is helping improve the development and implementation of gender-sensitive school improvement plans countrywide, and to promote women’s participation in governance at municipal and community levels. Our efforts will help build the capacity of government institutions to deliver services that are responsive to the needs of conflict-affected populations, especially women and refugees.
We are helping ensure that education is delivered in a gender-responsive manner and that safe learning spaces are available for both girls and boys. We are also seeking to ensure that specialized services and equipment are available to address the needs of girls and boys with disabilities and in need of psychosocial support.
4. Fostering economic growth that works for everyone, including equitable employment
The crises in the region have contributed to a collapse in economic activity, macroeconomic instability, and a dramatic increase in unemployment. Our development assistance is responding by fostering entrepreneurship, skills development and job generation, particularly for women and youth.
To support efforts to increase women’s participation in the labour force, we have funded the Mashreq Gender Facility. This will help Lebanon, Iraq, and Jordan develop and implement country-level National Action Plans for Women’s Economic Empowerment. Projects provide funding and technical support for strategic regional activities.
In Jordan, Canadian development assistance focuses on promoting female participation in the labour force (for example, through improving policies and daycare services in the private sector) and growing the country’s renewable energy sector. In Iraq, projects aim to identify legal barriers and constraints affecting women’s ability to work. In Syria, Canada helps to build the resilience of small-scale livelihood opportunities and supporting participation in local economies.
