Far East Energy Corporation : Canada’s development aid: focused and effective but should be more generous and efficient
06/19/2012| 12:19pm US/Eastern
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19/06/2012 - A new review of Canada's aid programme commends
the country's strong stand on human rights, its co-operation
with developing countries and its effective efforts in
Afghanistan and Haiti. The
OECD's Review of the Development Co-operation Policies and
Programmes of Canada also notes that the amount of its
aid is falling and, despite some improvement, its system is
still cumbersome.
From 2001 to 2010, Canada doubled its aid. But from 2010 to
2011, aid fell by just over 5% to USD 5.3 billion, or 0.31%
of Gross National Income (GNI) and the recent federal budget
cuts off another 7%, or USD 389 million by 2014-15. The
Review recommends that Canada increase its aid as soon as
possible and work to meet the international target of 0.7% of
GNI.
The Review cites two other examples of 'best practice' which
could be followed by other donors. Canada has opened its
trade to 48 least developed countries - allowing them duty
free and quota free access to Canadian markets for everything
except dairy products, poultry and eggs. Canada has also made
good progress on untying its aid, allowing developing
countries to purchase locally and at the best prices. About
80% of Canada's total aid is untied and that figure reaches
99% for least developed countries.
Overall, the Review notes that, 'Canada lacks a clear
top-level statement that sets out its vision for development
co-operation' and that the Canadian International Development
Agency (CIDA) is modernising but needs further streamlining.
In some situations - the civil-military co-operation in
Afghanistan and the humanitarian efforts in Haiti -
co-ordination amongst the relevant Canadian ministries,
backed by the necessary funds and human resources, ensured
that Canada's development efforts were efficient and
effective. Using these cases as an example, Canada should
devise a whole-of-government approach to all of its
development programmes.
These peer reviews are drafted by the OECD's Development
Assistance Committee which is comprised of the world's major
donors. The Committee's peer review process aims to
strengthen development co-operation, holding donors
accountable for honouring their policy commitments, and
sharing good practice to improve future program design and
delivery.
The Peer Review of Canada took place over a six month period,
including visits to Ottawa and Ethiopia, culminating on 15
May 2012 with the DAC peer review meeting in Paris. France
and the Netherlands acted as peer examiners, with supporting
analysis provided by the OECD Secretariat.
For more information on Canada's development policies and
programmes, journalists can contact Karen.Jorgensen in the
OECD's Development Co-operation Directorate: Karen.Jorgensen@oecd.org
or by telephone +33 (0) 1 45 24 94 61.
>> More information about OECD's work on development is
available at: www.oecd.org/development.
>> Further information about the Canada peer
review is available at: www.oecd.org/dac/peerreviews/canada
>> To get a copy of the OECD's Review of the
Development Co-operation Policies and Programmes of Canada,
please contact Matthias Rumpf at the OECD Washington Centre.
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