Advance human rights, gender equality, peaceful pluralism and respect for diversity internationally.

What success looks like

Inclusive governance, human rights, gender equality, peaceful pluralism and respect for diversity are enhanced around the world.

Government's narrative on progress

The Government of Canada seeks to protect and enable inclusive governance, human rights, gender equality, democracy, and respect for diversity around the world, under the rubric of its Feminist Foreign Policy, which is a suite of complementary and reinforcing actions and policies including the National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security, the Feminist International Assistance Policy, and Canada’s Inclusive Approach to Trade. Canada recognizes that supporting these fundamental principles is the most effective pathway to building a more peaceful, more inclusive and more prosperous world. Canada’s leadership in this domain has been exemplified by, though not limited to, the following: • Establishing gender equality as a priority and theme of Canada’s G7 Presidency, where it leveraged its partnerships to establish the Gender Equality Advisory Council. The Council’s work ensured that considerations to gender equality and women’s empowerment were integrated across all activities and initiatives of Canada’s G7 Presidency. Canada also leveraged its G7 presidency to co-host, with the EU, the first formal meeting of women foreign ministers, which provided an opportunity to harness the perspectives of women foreign ministers in addressing the challenges facing global relations today. • Adopting the *Justice for Victims of Corrupt Foreign Officials Act* (JVCFOA) and amendments to the *Special Economic Measures Act* (SEMA) to take direct action to respond to cases of human rights violations and acts of corruption globally. To that end, Canada has imposed targeted sanctions on 70 individuals under the JVCFOA from Russia, Venezuela, South Sudan, Myanmar and Saudi Arabia. • As co-chair of the Equal Rights Coalition (ERC), Canada co-hosted a global conference on LGBTI Human Rights and Inclusive Development in Vancouver in August 2018, committing alongside 40 member states to advocate for equal respect, protection, and promotion of the human rights of LGBTI persons. Canada has worked with ERC partners to coordinate efforts in countries where LGBTI persons face acute risks. In February, 2019, the Minister of International Development announced $30M dedicated development assistance focused on the rights of LGBTI persons. • Canada’s international advocacy at the UN General Assembly, Human Rights Council, and Organization of American States, as well as in other multilateral fora, has led to broad endorsement of joint statements and resolutions related to inclusion and respect for human rights. One recent example, a Canadian-led resolution on the elimination of violence against women and girls, was co-sponsored by 77 countries, and adopted by the UN Human Rights Council on July 5 2018. On February 12, 2019, the OAS Committee on Juridical and Political Affairs held a Special Session on the Power of Inclusion and the Benefits of Diversity, as mandated by a June 2018 consensus resolution by the same name that was put forward by Canada and co-sponsored by 11 other Member States. • Under the theme of Defending Democracies from Foreign Threats, G7 leaders announced the creation of the G7 Rapid Response Mechanism (RRM) at the Charlevoix Summit in June 2018. The mandate of the RRM is to strengthen coordination, as well as to identify and respond to foreign threats to democracy, including through sharing information and analysis. The RRM Coordination Unit is housed at Global Affairs Canada and Budget 2019 provided the department with $2.1 million over three years, starting in 2019–20, to support Canada's commitment to the RRM. • In May 2018, the Partnership for Gender Equality was launched. It is an innovative $300 million initiative to catalyze new investments to support the advancement of gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls in developing countries from the philanthropic community, the investing community, the private sector and civil society. • At the July 2018 Global Disability Summit, the Minister of International Development made concrete commitments to ensure the meaningful inclusion and participation of persons with disabilities in its international development efforts, and committed to host the next Global Action on Disability (GLAD) Network meeting in Ottawa in 2019.

Note: this is the government's own description, not an independent assessment.