The Government of Canada has donated approximately P757 million (Can$18.9 million) to fund seven new development assistance projects in the areas of education, health and good governance in the Philippines, specifically in the Bangsamoro region.

In a statement released Thursday, the Canadian government said the project which will be implemented in the Philippines over the next five years focuses mainly on supporting the Philippines’ economic response to the pandemic of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), empowering and improving the health of women and girls and assisting vulnerable people in underdeveloped areas of Mindanao.

“Canada stands together in solidarity with the Filipino people in the face of unprecedented challenges resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, including the negative physical, mental, social and economic effects many are experiencing each day,” Canada’s Ambassador to the Philippines Peter MacArthur said.

McArthur maintained that Canada supports its partners in the Philippine government, civil society and multilateral agencies in rolling out a wide range of programs to mitigate the effects of the pandemic and jump-start the economic recovery of those who have been adversely affected by the global health crisis.

“Canada continues to work in a coordinated manner with government agencies and non-governmental organizations to ensure that these projects will reach their target beneficiaries,” he said.

These initiatives, according to McArthur, reflect the spirit of the United Nations 2030 Agenda’s Sustainable Development Goals.

“I am confident that they will contribute to inclusive economic growth in marginalized communities, gender equality, youth empowerment, good governance and sustained peace in Bangsamoro,” Canada’s top diplomat in the Philippines said.

The Embassy of Canada in Manila identified the following as part of the five-year project:

Education initiatives implemented by Save the Children, in close partnership with the Department of Education, in the cities of Parañaque and Taguig and the municipality of Pateros, as well as by Vancouver, British Columbia-based Big Bad Boo Studios, Inc., in coordination with the Bangsamoro Ministry of Basic, Higher, and Technical Education to reach children in grades 4 to 6 in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM);

Health care initiatives implemented by the Canada-based non-governmental organization Inter Pares and its Philippine partner the Likhaan Center for Women’s Health to help more than 54,000 women and girls in Metro Manila and surrounding provinces, as well as by the United Nations Population Fund in at least 10 municipalities in the CALABARZON(Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, and Quezon) region, and,

Empowerment and inclusive governance initiatives implemented by the Mennonite Economic Development Associates to support resilience and inclusion through investment for sustainable agriculture in the BARMM and in Davao Region, by Philippine Business for Social Progress to advance gender equality and women’s rights across the Philippines and by the Forum of Federations to promote sustained peace in Bangsamoro by supporting the governance capacity of BARMM officials.