World Vision Canada works with children, families and their communities to overcome poverty and injustice. For the last 50 years, World Vision has engaged thousands of Canadian donors, local and international governments, as well as private business.

One of those partnerships includes Barrick Gold, which recently has been receiving some strong media attention. World Vision Canada has partnered with Barrick Gold in Peru for nearly a decade. Our goal is to protect human rights, while bringing social and economic benefits to communities near the company's mines.

This past fall, CIDA awarded grants to World Vision Canada, Plan Canada and World University Services Canada for work conducted in partnership with mining companies. World Vision's grant supports a new project to work with local leaders, developing a program that strengthens local government and creates income-generating activities for families. We believe it offers a valuable example of how multi-sector collaboration can leverage mining resources to promote community self-sufficiency through economic opportunity.

Our partnership with Barrick was not prompted by an economic downturn. At the core of World Vision's corporate engagement is a desire to help build strong communities. We have strict policies when we consider any potential partnership. Each opportunity is rigorously debated based on our stringent best practice policies, values and goals. We believe the benefits to children, families and communities far outweigh the risks.

During our decade of work with Barrick in Peru, thousands of families have benefitted from health, education, micro-enterprise, agricultural and leadership programs. As a result of our recent work in the Alto Chicama area development program, for example, we've seen an increase of 32 percentage points in access to education for children under five and the level of malnutrition in the same age group has dropped 16 percentage points.

These positive results are realized through direct partnerships with mining companies, as well as participating in corporate social responsibility and public policy dialogues here in Canada. In fact, the eighth Millennium Development Goal actually encourages partnerships between different sectors to tackle root causes of poverty.

Responsible mining is an obligation. We want to see mining companies investing in sustainable development projects that support a community's own plans and priorities – with one of the goals aiming to help mining companies align their Corporate Social Responsibility strategies with the local government's plans for development. We help communities speak up about their priorities and concerns. The reality is that Canada has the second largest mining interests in the world. Canadian mining companies are operating in hundreds if not thousands of the communities where we work. We can't negate this fact nor ignore the role of Canadian mining companies in development. World Vision chooses to work with companies like Barrick because we are committed to helping children through every way possible.

Finally, the work World Vision Canada does in communities where Barrick Gold is operating is not contingent on receiving financial support from the company. In fact, we are sponsoring children in every one of those communities where we work. With or without Barrick, we are committed to providing long-term development support to those communities.

If you would like more information about World Vision's engagement with corporate partners,
please contact Caroline Riseboro, 905.696.2237.