International Development Minister Christian Paradis and Crisis Situations

crisis situations: International Development Minister Christian Paradis said the bulk of the money will go to a four-year extension of Canada involvement in the Global Partnership for Education, which includes governments and NGOs. "We wanted to send the signal that we can't forget these kids in crisis situations and need to support them," Paradis said in an interview at the World Bank on Thursday. "It not right to have children lose their childhood because adults are fighting." From that announced sum, $10 million is a one-year contribution to UNICEF for education in crisis-affected areas, notably Syria, as well as the Central African Republic and Sudan, according to The Waterloo Record. The Syrian conflict has left a devastating toll on children: in neighbouring Lebanon alone, an estimated 400,000 young refugees remain out of school and one-quarter of that country children are now refugees. The contribution stems from different announcements made during the annual spring financial meetings in Washington. UNICEF executive director said that while there are 107,000 more children in school than last year, that hasn't nearly met the need. "We are not close, in truth," Anthony Lake said. "But we are a lot closer than a year ago." Paradis made the funding pledge at an event with former British prime minister Gordon Brown, the UN Special Envoy For Education. The U.K. coalition government passed a law last month enshrining its commitment to spend 0.7 per cent of GDP on development. Paradis was asked about the huge difference in international development contributions by Britain and Canada. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.