African survivor, activist seeks support for AIDS, TB and girls in Montreal

OTTAWA — Loyce Maturu sat in the darkened railway committee room of the Parliament Buildings on Tuesday watching a video of two fellow African activists — a Kenyan mother and daughter — playing for a reception of several dozen invited guests.

“I’m really grateful that I’ve had a mom that has raised me to be a strong, independent young woman,” the daughter was saying.

Maturu, of Zimbabwe, outlived her own mother, who succumbed to AIDS and tuberculosis along with Maturu’s sole sibling, a brother who only made it to his sixth birthday.

“It really makes me feel that had the Global Fund been in Zimbabwe earlier, my mother and my younger brother would be alive today and I wouldn’t have gone through many challenges,” Maturu said.

Maturu’s challenges including swallowing all the medication she could find in what was a failed suicide attempt six years ago. The 24-year-old woman persevered and was in Ottawa in full activist mode Tuesday, ahead of this weekend’s international pledging conference in Montreal to replenish the Global Fund to Fight Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria.

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Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will lead an international cast of politicians, philanthropists and celebrities, including UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, Bill and Melinda Gates and the Irish rock star and activist Bono in an attempt to raise $13 billion to carry the fund through its next three years.

Canada already committed $785 million earlier this spring, when Trudeau announced he would host the conference.

The conference will come days before Trudeau travels to New York, to attend the annual UN General Assembly meeting. The prime minister is expected to give his maiden address to the world body.

Trudeau’s office says he will be pushing an agenda of “diversity, human rights, the need for gender equality,” all of it aimed at furthering the UN’s new, 2030 Sustainable Development Goals.

The backdrop for all of this is Canada’s pursuit of a non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council in 2020. Canada’s UN ambassador Marc-Andre Blanchard has told The Canadian Press that a commitment to international development would be a key component of that campaign.

Last month, Trudeau answered the call of Bono’s international advocacy group, ONE Campaign, when he declared that “poverty is sexist.” But in a weekend interview with The Canadian Press, Bono said he would still like to see Canada to commit to the UN spending target for foreign aid — 0.7 per cent of gross national income.

International Development Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau has called that target too ambitious, saying it would cost Canada an extra $10 billion a year.

Bibeau made no mention of the UN target Tuesday as she addressed the railway room gathering. She mentioned the ongoing government review of development policy, which is expected to include a five-year spending plan. She said “it will put women and girls at the very heart of everything we do.”

When Maturu met Trudeau in May, as he announced he would host the conference, she was impressed with his commitment. She said she’s seen too many women and girls fall by the wayside, due to the perils of disease and social forces.

She said she was touched by his concern that adolescent girls and young women avoid infection with HIV and have the chance to go to school to reduce their vulnerability.

Maturu lived that reality herself, after she lost her mother and eventually tried to take her own life.

She’s since found her footing, but it wasn’t easy.

“A mother is someone who’s really close to you, and can do anything for you to make your future brighter.”

Mike Blanchfield, The Canadian Press