Bibeau announces Myanmar Crisis Relief Fund total
Sherbrooke MP and Minister of International Development and La Francophonie Marie-claude Bibeau announced the final tally for the Myanmar Crisis Relief Fund on Wednesday, reporting that Canada’s overall humanitarian response to the violent crisis being faced by Myanmar’s Rohingya people is more than $37.5 million. The fund, established in August to help address the world’s fastest-growing refugee and humanitarian crisis, combined more than $12.5 million in individual donations to registered charities with a matched donation from the federal government up to the end of November.
Canada has adopted a Feminist International Assistance Policy, which supports gender-responsive humanitarian action, an approach better suited to the unique needs of women and girls within a generalized humanitarian crisis.
As such, Canada’s contribution to the Myanmar Crisis Relief Fund will be allocated to address the gender-specific needs of women and girls in humanitarian settings, including survivors of sexual and gender-based violence, pregnant and nursing women, and womanheaded households. Canada’s response will also include sexual and reproductive health services, as well as psychosocial counselling.
The funding announced Wednesday is in addition to the more than $25 million in humanitarian assistance already committed in Bangladesh and Myanmar since the beginning of 2017, where, since August, more than 625,000 Rohingya, mainly women and children, have fled to Bangladesh to escape ethnic and religious violence in Myanmar. This is in addition to an estimated 300,000 who had previously sought refuge in Bangladesh in previous waves of displacement.
In November, Bibeau visited refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, where she met with survivors of gender-based violence, unaccompanied children, and new mothers, as well as representatives of key humanitarian organizations.
“I have seen first-hand what our support for humanitarian partners can do for those in affected communities who need it most,” the Minister said. “We thank Canadians, both here and in the Myanmar-bangladesh crisis region, for being a part of our efforts.”