To reaffirm its commitment to equality, equity and the transformative role of women in development, in 2020 Caritas Canada (Development and Peace) updated and renewed its equality policy.
The new policy and related action plan were developed through a participative process that engaged staff, partners in the Global South and members across Canada. This renewed policy builds on the organisation’s pioneering policy that was introduced in 1993 to further the recognition of women’s rights as human rights and emphasise the significant role that women can play as agents of change in their communities, social movements and countries.
The policy renewal began with a participatory audit that examined internal practices, documentation, education and public engagement work in Canada; and Development and Peace’s work with partners in the Global South. This audit highlighted areas of strength where Development and Peace has shown leadership, as well as areas for growth.
The goal of the policy and its associated action plan is to ensure that women in Canada and the Global South can assume full agency in building a more just and sustainable world for everyone, including men and boys. The principles of the Catholic Church’s social teaching are central to this policy, focusing on integral human development that encompasses the well-being of every person in all their dimensions: economic, political, social, ecological and spiritual.
Guided by Catholic Social Teaching, Development and Peace places human dignity, the preferential option for the poor, participation, solidarity and peace at the heart of its work.
With the renewal of its gender policy, Development and Peace has recommitted to supporting women in all their diversity—race, class, education, physical ability, religion and language—by encouraging their inclusion and meaningful participation.
Encouraging women’s full participation will further the quest for more effective, just and sustainable solutions for the greatest challenges of our time, including the climate crisis, food insecurity, growing economic inequality and armed conflicts.