Today, the Honourable Christian Paradis, Minister of International Development and La Francophonie, delivered a keynote address at a high-level round table discussion on The Role of the Private Sector in the Future Health Architecture.

“We know the power of the private sector to create jobs, build economic growth, innovate, and provide goods and services that improve lives. Today, we are talking about the power of the private sector for development and to improve global health,” said Minister Paradis. “In the coming years, I look forward to exploring how we can work with the private sector, building on our successes and creating effective partnerships to improve global health. Together we are forging a new path to harness the power of the private sector to save lives.”

The round table was organized by the Government of Canada and the Center for Global Health and Diplomacy (GHD). It is one in a series of GHD-hosted high-level stakeholder round tables that explore innovative technology and private sector models, and focus on how public-private partnerships can contribute to saving the lives of women and children. The findings of the series will be published in a special edition of Global Health and Diplomacy magazine and distributed at a World Economic Forum meeting in Davos, Switzerland, in January 2015.

Improving the health of women and children around the world is Canada’s top development priority. Canada will continue to mobilize global attention on the issue and ensure that maternal, newborn and child health remains central as Canada and the global community work to define and implement the post-2015 development agenda.

To achieve these ambitious goals, the Government is committed to building new partnerships and expanding existing partnerships—particularly with the private sector—to leverage their expertise, innovation and resources to save the lives of women and children around the world.

Quick Facts

• Canada has played a leadership role in improving global maternal, newborn and child health:
• first at the 2010 G-8 Summit in Muskoka by bringing global attention to ending preventable deaths of mothers and children;
• then at the 2014 global summit Saving Every Woman, Every Child: Within Arm’s Reach, which reinvigorated the discussion and commitment; and
• more recently at the United Nations General Assembly, where we continued to advocate to ensure maternal, newborn and child health remains a top priority post-2015.
• Canada renewed its commitment to maternal, newborn and child health by pledging $3.5 billion for 2015–2020, including:
• a $200-million contribution to the Global Financing Facility for Every Woman Every Child, which aims to increase financing available to developing countries to improve their health systems, of which $100 million was earmarked for civil registration and vital statistics; and
• $370 million for the Partnerships for Strengthening Maternal, Newborn and Child Health call for proposals, which leverages Canadians’ expertise and innovation in improving the health of mothers and children in developing countries.
• Canada’s $3.5-billion commitment for 2015–2020 builds on initial investments of $2.85 billion since 2010 through the Muskoka Initiative.Minister Paradis chairs the World Economic Forum-OECD Redesigning Development Finance Initiative, which will map out innovative partnerships and innovative finance models in order to pool private and public funds for investment in developing countries.
• Canada supports innovative partnerships with the private sector that bring resources, new ideas and solutions to the table and have the potential to increase the reach and sustainability of results.

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