Prime Minister Stephen Harper holds extended outreach meetings with leaders from Africa and the Americas

June 25, 2010

HUNTSVILLE, ONTARIO – Prime Minister Stephen Harper today met with leaders from Africa and the Americas as part of Canada’s efforts at the G-8 to engage key international partners on development and regional and international security.
 
His first meeting, with leaders from Algeria, Ethiopia (Chair of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development), Malawi (Chair of the African Union), Nigeria, Senegal and South Africa, built on a strong G-8 tradition of outreach with African partners.  The leaders discussed their efforts to promote maternal, newborn and child health as a key part of Africa achieving the Millennium Development Goals.

This group was then joined by leaders from Colombia, Haiti and Jamaica for a more detailed discussion on regional and international security challenges from natural disasters to the threat posed by criminal organizations. 
 
“We discussed shared threats to our security and ways we can work together to address them.  The insights of our partners from the Americas and Africa served to ground our discussions in real-world examples,” said Prime Minister Harper.
 
Many states and regions are struggling to manage the ongoing and pervasive security vulnerabilities they face — including terrorism, organized crime, and trafficking in drugs — and that continue to threaten global stability and prosperity.  These undermine sustainable development and democratic governance.
 
“The linkages between criminal organizations and terrorists are a serious concern to all of our countries,” said the Prime Minister.  “To confront them, we must cooperate effectively, while respecting democratic institutions and protecting human rights.”