NDP statement on the National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security

Statement from Hélène Laverdière, NDP Foreign Affairs Critic:

"New Democrats have long been champions of the Women, Peace and Security Agenda. I was delighted to propose the first study on Women, Peace and Security at the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee in 2016. Today, we commend civil society for their hard work, which has resulted in Canada’s new National Action Plan on Women, Peace, and Security. However, we are very disappointed that the government has not committed any new funding to the implementation of this Agenda.

A truly feminist foreign policy needs more than words - it needs money. A severe scarcity of funds is one of the key challenges of implementing the WPS agenda at both the national and global level. The government heard this repeatedly from experts during consultations for the NAP.

The NDP wants to see Canada to devote significant resources to the implementation of the Women, Peace and Security agenda – including a dedicated budget for Canada’s National Action Plan. We also want to see Canada allocate at least 15% of the international assistance it provides for peace and security programming to projects that have the advancement of gender equality and women’s empowerment as their primary objective. The 15% target was proposed by the UN Secretary General in 2010, yet this target remains largely unmet.

Already, the Liberals have refused to increase Canada’s international development budget, which in real terms means our aid contributions are falling. Asking government departments to implement the NAP without increased resources is proof that this government is not actually taking the WPS agenda seriously.

If Canada is to make the Women, Peace and Security Agenda a core goal of Canadian foreign policy, it must increase funding through a dedicated budget for the Agenda. Anything less is just words – and not feminist."