This text is part of the special section on International Cooperation
“We can transform the world, and do it immediately. Such an affirmation seems ambitious, and perfectly unrealistic, but Michèle Asselin, Executive Director of the Quebec Association of International Cooperation Organizations (AQOCI), assumes her words… and recognizes the magnitude of the task. It was already huge before March 2020, and the health crisis has added several layers to it, wearing down the goodwill of the most idealistic in the process. But the fight against inequality, the source of many evils that plague the planet, must continue at all costs.
It is not the sites that are lacking to operate this transformation, and an Oxfam report published last January shows the full extent. According to this international organization, inequalities in the world kill one person every four seconds, and the low rate of vaccination in several countries (10% on the African continent, compared to 70% in industrialized countries) is likely to increase this rate. alarming figure. Meanwhile, the wealth of billionaires — including Elon Musk (Tesla) and Jeff Bezos (Amazon) — has grown six times faster since the start of the health crisis than that of the bottom three billion people.
learning opportunities
All these figures did not surprise Michèle Asselin. “The results of this report are supported by conclusive, documented… and worrying data, underlines the one who was president of the Fédération des femmes du Québec from 2003 to 2009. What this report testifies to is that not only was the pandemic a revealer of social inequalities, but also an accelerator. »
Moreover, at the same time, despite an economy periodically “on pause”, climate change has not taken a vacation. 2021 was one of the seven hottest years on record according to the World Meteorological Organization, bringing its calamitous share of wildfires, droughts and hurricanes.
Can all these phenomena be anything other than fatalities? The Executive Director of AQOCI wants them to be also, and above all, learning opportunities. “We are interdependent, the virus travels, doesn’t care about borders, just like climate change. Canada remains a major polluter, but suffers less of the consequences than many countries in the South. We need to address these challenges globally while distributing the money to countries that are affected more than others. »
This social justice movement can emerge, and grow stronger, through initiatives like International Development Week. Michèle Asselin is convinced of this. “This event is an opportunity to share knowledge, and above all to hear what the countries of the South can bring us. We are also witnessing a south-south movement among the large organisations, which no longer recruit development workers only in the countries of the North. They have a lot to teach us, as DD Joanne Liu, referring to the expertise of African countries developed during the Ebola virus epidemic, including the management of hot and cold zones. During the first wave of COVID-19, she couldn’t believe the aberrant way in which CHSLDs operated. The deaths of thousands of seniors in Quebec were a real disaster. »
Break the feeling of isolation
Faced with these collective failures, an event like International Development Week hopes to be able to mitigate the deleterious effects and offer a unique opportunity to do better and differently next time. This is also the time to understand that collective aspirations cannot be achieved in a vacuum, recalls Michèle Asselin. “We are not alone, all gestures count, and for them to really count, we must accomplish them together. The solutions to climate change exist, but cannot rest solely on our weak shoulders. »
For a few days in February, but also throughout the rest of the year, the 69 organizations spread over 13 regions of the province that make up the fabric of AQOCI seek to break this feeling of isolation, even powerlessness, to build “another world based on equality, justice, and freedom”, according to its president. Without however being “jovialistic”, she wishes to specify, while adding that nothing will be done if the citizens do not challenge their elected officials, regardless of the level of government. “And if we started by abolishing tax havens, this odious thing? The planet is threatened, and I understand young people for being exasperated,” concludes Michèle Asselin.