Québec and solidarity

At the dawn of the new millennium, and in light of the increasing impoverishment of many countries, the fight against poverty has become a solidarity issue of the utmost urgency for the entire international community. A number of initiatives, including the adoption of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals, illustrate the willingness of rich countries to provide their support to the most impoverished countries.

Québec’s contribution

In choosing to focus its efforts, Québec intends to contribute tangibly, in its own way, to the progress and advancement of developing countries.
 

	For the Québec government... Contributing to international solidarity efforts is a matter of responsibility. For this reason, Québec has made it one of the five priorities of its international policy.

Québec’s international solidarity initiatives are based on the principles of sustainable development and place emphasis on:

• the autonomy of local partners

• their capacity to respond to needs that they themselves determine

• strengthening the human and material resources at their disposal so that they can effectively take charge of their development.

Québec channels its support toward the poorest countries in the following geopolitical groupings:

• Francophone Africa

• Latin America and the West Indies, particularly Haiti.

Furthermore, Québec has elected to take action primarily in areas where it has well established expertise: human resource training and developing governance capacities.

Québec’s commitment to international solidarity involves the following:

Supporting civil society organizations

Through partnerships, the Ministère des Relations internationales supports initiatives by international cooperation organizations (ICO) and their partners in the southern hemisphere to assist disadvantaged populations in developing countries. The Ministère des Relations internationales supports various undertakings via 3 programs:

• development projects

• international solidarity internships

• activities to raise the Québec public’s awareness of development issues.
   

	Since 1997, the Ministère des Relations internationales... has been collaborating with over sixty international cooperation organizations has provided financial support for more than 500 international development projects has been present in over 50 countries throughout the world.

Sharing public service expertise

Québec’s solidarity commitment is likewise carried out by sharing the know-how of its public institutions with developing countries. In doing so, Québec collaborates in the capacity building of its partners and their communities. The Haitian Governance Enhancement Project (PARGEP) and the Centre for the International Promotion of Québec Public Expertise (CIPQPE) are clear examples of how Québec can significantly contribute to international solidarity efforts.

Québec also has other tools for sharing its public service expertise, including support for international students through tuition waivers. For more information, please refer to the Exemptions Granted by Virtue of Cooperation Agreements on the website of the Ministère de l’Éducation, des Loisirs et du Sport du Québec.

	Through the Haitian Governance Enhancement Project: The Québec government is using its driving forces to assist in strengthening governance in Haiti and structuring the country’s public administration. Our model is a textbook example that has gained the recognition of many observers. To date, public experts from Québec have conducted 12 missions in Haiti and Québec has hosted three delegations of Haitian senior administrative officials. Exchanges are taking place in such fields as human resource management, public finance and gender equality. Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive personally signed the memorandum of understanding for this project in his capacity as Minister of Planning and External Cooperation.

La Francophonie

The Government of Québec is a member of the International Organization of La Francophonie and actively participates in initiatives by Francophonie organizations in a variety of areas such as:

• education and culture

• democracy

• the French language

• sustainable development.

	Over 10 million dollars per year are allocated to international solidarity activities in developing countries that are members of La Francophonie.

Emergency assistance

Québec provides various forms of assistance to developing countries during humanitarian disasters. This support is divided into 3 components:

• In collaboration with the Ministère des Relations internationales, the Civil Security Disaster Committee is mandated to coordinate the Québec government’s action in the event of humanitarian disasters in affected countries by making experts and equipment available.
   

	This type of response was especially needed in the aftermath of the January, 2010 earthquake in Haiti.

• Since September, 2006, the Ministère de la Santé et des Services sociaux (MSSS) has partnered with the Canadian Red Cross, Québec Division, in setting up an Emergency Response Unit (ERU). These teams of health care and social service professionals can work with International Red Cross and Red Crescent units during certain international humanitarian operations. The MRI has signed a three-year agreement (2009-2010 to 2011-2012) to allocate up to $50,000 in funding annually for these field deployments.
   

	Emergency response teams were called upon to intervene during the violent earthquake in Chile in February 2010 and the flooding in Pakistan in June and August 2010.

• The Government of Québec responds to emergency initiatives undertaken by international cooperation organizations in the poorest countries in Francophone Africa, Latin America and the West Indies within the framework of the Québec International Development Program.
   

	In recent years... The Ministère des Relations internationales has supported emergency initiatives in the following countries: Haiti, 2008: following flooding caused by tropical storms El Salvador, November 2009: in the aftermath of flooding caused by hurricane Ida Niger, September 2010: emergency food assistance.