Canada's Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird on Tuesday presented Princess Mabel and 'Girls Not Brides: The Global Partnership to End Child Marriage' with the 2014 John Diefenbaker Defender of Human Rights and Freedom Award during a ceremony in Ottawa.
“Girls Not Brides is working tirelessly to bring hope to millions of girls and young women around the world by putting an end to child, early and forced marriage,” said Baird. “Canada is proud to partner with them and honour them for their work on this noble cause.”
During the ceremony, Baird, announced that Canada will contribute $10 million to Canadian and international civil society organizations as part of an ongoing global effort to end this practice. “Canada will continue to lead in these efforts and uphold the principles that John Diefenbaker stood for and that remain the pillars of Canadian values today,” added Baird. “Together, we will continue to stand for freedom, democracy, human rights and the rule of law.”
Receiving the award were Princess Mabel, Chair of the Board of Trustees for Girls Not Brides, as well as two tireless activists from the Girls Not Brides network, Dr. Ashok Dyalchand, Director, Institute of Health Management-Pachod (India), and Amina Hanga, Executive Secretary, Isa Wali Empowerment Initiative (Nigeria).
From the speech of Minister John Baird:
Girls Not Brides represents over 400 civil society organizations from more than 60 countries around the world that have united to end child, early and forced marriage. This includes, I am very proud to say, a number of Canadian organizations present here today.
In the four short years since the organization’s creation, they have become the leading global advocacy organization on ending child marriage. Her Royal Highness Princess Mabel van Oranje spearheaded the creation of Girls Not Brides. It was a spin-off of The Elders Foundation, which was founded by Nelson Mandela in 2007 to bring together global leaders to work together for peace and human rights.
The wise and inspiring leaders of that organization recognized child marriage as one of the most pressing development challenges of our time. In all parts of the world, Girls Not Brides gives a voice to those who are silenced by child marriage. They do this by calling for new laws, sharing best practices and engaging with communities.
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