Grants and Contributions

This funding is to support the Canadian Environmental Law Association's participation in the CNSC's Environmental Non-Governmental Organization Forum.

Our entire technological civilization is based on the discovery by Michael Faraday in the 1830s that a changing magnetic field can generate electricity. Our finely tuned electric generation networks deliver power to homes and industry over vast regions. They are, however, vulnerable to effects associated with auroras, known as space weather. This study of such effects will improve upon existing approaches by including recently discovered unusual magnetic impulses, with unusual auroras, as well as a dense network of magnetic measuring devices near the Hydro-Québec power network. Practical insight as well as foundational knowledge about space weather will result.

This research is to advance understanding of the interaction of the 'atmosphere' of the Sun, which interacts with the upper 'atmosphere' (above 100 km) of the Earth. These interactions cause space weather which may have adverse effects on our modern technology. This research will improve our understanding of how high frequency radio waves propagate through the upper atmosphere or ionosphere. Radio waves are essential for communications in northern Canada and for polar commercial airline flights. Better understanding will minimise adverse effects on radio communications for society through analysing and modelling observations obtained from the Canadian scientific satellite mission ePOP/CASSIOPE/Swarm E.

This project aims to improve the employability of young women and men in the agribusiness sector by increasing their capacity to gain industry-relevant and climate-smart skills in three governorates in Lower Egypt: Beheira, Gharbia, and Menofia. The project will support the Ministry of Education and Technical Education (MoETE), the Ministry of the Environment, the National Council for Women (NCW) to implement Egypt’s technical and vocational education and training (TVET) strategy. The project also seeks to increase the inclusiveness and resilience of the agri-business sector, particularly for women and rural youth. Project activities include: (1) conducting a gender-sensitive analysis of the labour market and existing competency standards to identify climate-smart agribusiness subsectors for training programs; (2) establishing Egypt’s first Agribusiness Centre of Competence (CoC), which seeks to serve a network of 10 agricultural technical schools; (3) developing a new gender-responsive and competency-based curriculum that can respond to skill gaps in the labour market and improve employment and self-employment pathways for youths; (4) providing gender training to students, institutional staff, and industry representative to reduce barriers preventing women from pursuing TVET and employment opportunities; (5) providing capacity building services to technical schools personnel and instructors; (6) creating industry advisory committees, and youth and community committees to increase linkages between technical schools and private sector actors; (7) raising awareness within project communities on the advantages and opportunities of TVET and employment, especially for women; (8) providing training to industry, community, and government officials to enhance the image of technical education; and (9) fostering internship and learning opportunities for students in agri-business enterprises. The project expects to benefit about 24,000 students directly, of whom nearly 5,000 will be women, as well as 249 lecturers, 145 administrator, 20 student managers, 20 MoETE officials and 100 industry representatives. The project expects to indirectly benefit 30,000 individuals.

The Sustainable Energy and Economic Development in Jordan project (SEED II) aims to improve the livelihoods of women, youth, and marginalized groups in poor communities of the Jordan Valley region through renewable energy and energy efficiency solutions. It seeks to increase the employability of women and youth in the renewable energy and energy efficiency sector through vocational training, work placements, and internships. It also seeks to foster climate-smart innovation in agriculture through incubators for entrepreneurs, reduce energy bills for public institutions through renewable energy installations, empower women to participate in decision-making related to renewable energy and benefit from economic opportunities. The Project builds on the achievements of the first phase (SEED I, 2016-2023; 24.6M), replicating successful interventions in new implementation sites across the Jordan Valley and incorporating lessons learned and best practices.

The Protecting Marine Biodiversity in Aqaba project aims to conserve and restore marine and terrestrial biodiversity in the Gulf of Aqaba and surrounding coastal area, while fostering economic opportunities through innovative eco-tourism initiatives. It seeks to enhance the resilience of marine and land ecosystems in the region against the threat of climate change and human activity. On land, the project introduces native plants near dams along the coast to preserve essential habitat for birds, mammals, and reptiles. In the sea, artificial coral reefs are installed to provide additional habitat for marine life, serving as nurseries and feeding grounds for fish and other organisms. The project seeks to strengthen women’s entrepreneurial roles in coastal ecosystem management and resilience to enhance and improve the well-being of the broader coastal community, including women and youth. The project also focuses on effectively removing solid waste from the protected areas through clean-up dives, and relocating vulnerable corals developed on this waste.

The Market-Oriented Vocational Training project aims to respond to the request made by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) for Donor contributions to the initiative supporting the technical and vocational education and training (TVET) sector in Jordan. The project supports the government of Jordan’s efforts to modernize its vocational sector. It contributes to Jordan’s vision of economic modernization by improving the vocational education and training system. It focuses on enhancing the quality of training, linking training to job opportunities in the private sector and recruiting more women to Technical and Vocational Education and Training opportunities. As part of a multi-donor initiative, this grant benefits at least 2,500 teachers at vocational training institutes, 1,800 university teaching staff, 250 specialists and managers in line ministries and 400 company trainers.

The Feminist Solutions to Climate Change-Driven Food Insecurity (FEMIN-ACT) project aims to address Iraq’s poverty reduction and food insecurity in Iraq through an integrated approach to agricultural development. It aims to enhance the capacity of smallholder farmers to operationalize best practices of climate-smart agriculture, such as drip irrigation systems, reduced pesticide use and increased use of drought-resistant crop varieties. These techniques focus on reducing water consumption, increasing productivity, and boosting income, reducing poverty and increasing food security. Moreover, the project aims to enhance the participation of women alongside men farmers to fully engage in the agriculture field. It aims to create an enabling environment empowering women and youth to exercise their leadership potential through networking and collaboration with other farmers, farmers unions, and associations to connect, share knowledge, and enhance their capacity to make informed decisions. Finally, this project contributes to strengthening the knowledge and skills among food value chain actors to be more productive, market-integrated, and sustainable.

June 2023 - In 2023, approximately 332 million people across the world are in need of humanitarian assistance and protection in part due to ongoing conflicts, natural disasters, and disease outbreaks. In response to the unprecedented level of humanitarian needs, GAC’s humanitarian assistance is providing predictable, multi-year, multi-country support to longstanding partners in protracted humanitarian contexts globally.

With GAC’s support, Doctors Without Borders (MSF) is providing assistance to address the urgent needs of up to 5,544,000 beneficiaries from 2024 to 2027. This project focuses on providing access to primary and secondary healthcare, including the provision of sexual and reproductive health services in countries where MSF are operating, specifically in approximately six countries affected by conflict, situations of violence and other emergencies each year. Country-level interventions will be implemented through a global program that will allow for a greater overall coherence and visibility of sectoral results achieved. Countries of implementation will be selected on a yearly basis and in consultation with GAC, with priority given to extreme health crisis in countries experiencing protracted conflict such as the Democratic Republic of the Congo. At least half of the budget will be directed towards humanitarian crises in Sub-Saharan Africa. To ensure that MSF is able to act quickly and effectively respond when humanitarian emergencies occur, MSF will dedicate funding to responding to unforeseen crises in any country in which MSF operates and for which MSF is capable of accepting institutional funding. The release of funding to emergency operations will be done in consultation with GAC, recognizing the need for a balance between a timely response and accountability of funding and decision-making.

Project activities include: (1) providing at least 4,000,000 primary healthcare consultations to vulnerable populations; (2) providing approximately 765,000 patients with sexual and reproductive healthcare services; (3) providing disease case management in areas of response; (4) providing malnutrition screening and therapeutic feeding care to children under the age of five; and (5) distributing non-food item kits including bed nets, and sanitation supplies, specifically targeting pregnant and lactating women, and children under the age of five.

This project aims to increase the realization of social and labour rights of women paid care workers, specifically women early childhood development workers in Ecuador and Paraguay. Project activities include: (1) training women care workers on professional early childhood development skills and knowledge, gender equality, life skills, and labour and protection rights; (2) providing training and sensitization to communities and families, especially men, about gender equality, women’s labour rights, and equal distribution of unpaid care; (3) training and supporting women’s rights organizations on leadership, care economy, and evidenced-based advocacy; and (4) training government officials on culturally sensitive and gender-responsive policy implementation and service delivery for women paid care workers.

The project implementation is a collaboration between Plan International Canada, Plan International Ecuador and Plan International Paraguay who will co-implement this project with Asociación de Trabajadoras Remuneradas del Hogar del Ecuador and Asociación Solidaridad y Acción in Ecuador and Coordinadora Nacional de Organizaciones de Mujeres Trabajadoras Rurales e Indígenas and Asociación Mil Solidarios in Paraguay.

The project aims to reach 5,430 women early childhood development workers, with 2,780 in Ecuador and 2,650 in Paraguay. It also seeks to indirectly impact 13,570 individuals, with 4,470 in Ecuador (2,272 women) and 9,100 in Paraguay (4,770 women).