It was certainly a formal event with about 250 leaders from both government offices and non-government, international development organizations dressed in business attire and surrounded by media trying to capture the story.
So what was the story? Prime Minister Harper announced that the government of Canada will be renewing its support to the World Health Organization (WHO) for their efforts in polio eradication and their support to UNICEF and Kiwanis Clubs for efforts to provide tetanus vaccines. He also made an appeal, on behalf of his wife, to all parents in Canada that they should vaccinate their children. There are 22 million children in a year that are still not vaccinated with millions of them dying as a result. Bill Gates added that he believes there are three major areas that need attention with regard to immunizations worldwide. The first is to fund research for developing vaccines for HIV, tuberculosis, malaria and other major diseases. The second is to get new vaccines out more expeditiously to remote locations in developing countries. The third is to ensure coverage for immunizations is done so completely that diseases can be eradicated.
So why was I invited and attending this event? World Renew in Canada is one of the agencies that has received major contributions from the Department of Foreign Affairs Trade and Development (DFATD) related to its first Muskoka Initiative for maternal, newborn and child health (MNCH) programs. We have also submitted another proposal to DFATD’s Partnership branch with hopes for another contribution of $7m for the years of 2015 to 2020 to support our MNCH programs in the four countries of Bangladesh, Nigeria, Malawi and Tanzania.
As Prime Minister Harper mentioned how pleased he has been with how the support from the Canadian government for MNCH has penetrated this movement of improved health for women and children to the grass roots level, I can testify to World Renew’s role in making that happen. By using a community health systems approach, we have seen significant improvements in maternal and child health. In addition to funding from DFATD, World Renew has also received support from USAID’s Maternal Child Survival Program (MCSP) and we have been recognized for the high quality work we do with our partners and communities. In a recent email from MCSP, they noted that our 2009-2014 project in Bangladesh “has been identified as one having high quality data and important insights about community engagement and service delivery for communities”.
We are thankful to God for this opportunity to partner with governments, putting our tax dollars to work and making a difference in people’s lives and the health of entire communities worldwide.
