The Honourable Harjit S. Sajjan, Minister of International Development and Minister responsible for the Pacific Economic Development Agency of Canada, today announced that he will travel to Geneva to meet with UN and international partners to discuss the pandemic response and the humanitarian crises in Ukraine and Afghanistan.
March 6, 2022 – Ottawa, Ontario – Global Affairs Canada
The Honourable Harjit S. Sajjan, Minister of International Development and Minister responsible for the Pacific Economic Development Agency of Canada, today announced that he will travel to Geneva to meet with UN and international partners to discuss the pandemic response and the humanitarian crises in Ukraine and Afghanistan.
Minister Sajjan will meet with UN and NGO partners on Monday, March 7, before traveling to Eastern Europe.
He will be traveling to various locations in Eastern Europe. Due to the security situation in the region, specific locations will not be disclosed prior to travel.
All COVID-19-related public health rules and guidelines will be followed before, during and after the Minister’s trip.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has shown that as a global community, we can come together during times of crisis to support those most in need. The same can be said for the humanitarian crisis unfolding in Ukraine and the ongoing crisis in Afghanistan. We must continue to work with partners, including the United Nations and non-governmental organizations, to see what more we can do to assist those impacted by conflict.”
– Harjit S. Sajjan, Minister of International Development and Minister responsible for the Pacific Economic Development Agency of Canada
Canada has committed more than $2.6 billion to support the global response to the COVID-19 pandemic. This includes a contribution of over $1.3 billion to ensure that COVID-19 vaccines, therapeutics, and diagnostics are available around the world through the Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator, including $545 million to the COVID-19 Vaccine Global Access (COVAX) Facility for the procurement, delivery and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines. Of this, more than $1.1 billion has been disbursed to ACT-Accelerator partners, including $545 million to COVAX.
In 2021, according to the United Nations Financial Tracking Service, Canada ranked as the 4th largest single-country donor of humanitarian assistance funding for Ukraine. Since 2014, Canada has provided more than $50 million in multifaceted assistance annually, to Ukraine, including humanitarian assistance, development assistance and assistance for peace and stabilization. Since the start of 2022, Canada has committed an additional $125 million in humanitarian assistance to Ukraine.
The recent upheaval in Afghanistan has exacerbated the already significant humanitarian needs there. An estimated 24 million people will need humanitarian assistance in 2022, up from 18.4 million in 2021. Since August 2021, Canada has allocated $106 million in humanitarian assistance for the response in Afghanistan and neighbouring countries, including $56 million announced on December 21, 2021.