Federal funding announced for Nova Scotia women’s organizations
TRURO, N.S. – Maryam Monsef hopes recently announced funding will enable women’s organizations to place more focus on the important work they do.
Monsef, the federal Minister of International Development and Minister for Women and Gender Equality, made a stop at The Lotus Centre in Truro last week, as she travelled from New Brunswick to Halifax, making announcements on Women’s Program funding.
“We’re providing funding so women’s organizations can focus on transforming and saving lives,” she said. “They’re not just the crisis centres that someone shows up to when they have experienced sexual violence and gender-based violence but they are the employment agencies, they are the youth support centres, they are the immigrant integration centres and they are the person that everybody calls in the community when they don’t know who else to call – and that’s a lot of work and that’s a lot of responsibility.”
The 2018 budget provided $100 million to invest in organizations working to help women in these areas.
“A lot of women’s organizations have been working tirelessly on slim to no budget,” said Monsef. “I hope this is validating for leaders who’ve been saying they’re helping people piece their lives back together again, but they need help financially.
“Investing in organizations like these is the best way to advance gender equality.”
More than 250 organizations across the country are receiving funds from the capacity-building fund of the Women’s Program. Seven Nova Scotia groups will receive $2.4 million of that funding. The program’s priority areas are ending violence against women and girls, improving the economic security and prosperity of women and girls, and encouraging women and girls in leadership roles.
Assistance is provided to groups selected through calls for proposals on specific themes, as well as through a continuous intake process.