Foreign Affairs committee  Thank you very much. First of all, you're absolutely right about the lives being saved. One of the great things about Afghanistan is that we know that every year there are 80,000 more children who are living, including 40,000 babies because of improvements in mortality rates, si

Foreign Affairs committee  Yes, it is. The difference is, in areas of Sudan, like in the north-south, we're having to harmonize ourselves, because in that part there's almost no government whatsoever. We're helping to put in place the limits. Haiti has governance challenges but is actually in a much strong

Foreign Affairs committee  Yes, we have an employee working on the support team. His mandate is to provide all the research and logistical support necessary in those areas.

Foreign Affairs committee  Maybe what I can do is answer the general question while Greg will answer the specific one. In terms of the use of grants or contributions, it depends very much on the country situation. If we work through UN agencies such as the World Food Program or the United Nations Develop

Foreign Affairs committee  That's where I think Greg's point was a very important one. Looking at the way in which we do grants, for example, if I take a very concrete example in Afghanistan, the MISFA, the microfinance facility, that's grants but in fact there are regular evaluations done. We sit on the g

Foreign Affairs committee  No. In terms of the traditional distinction between grants and contributions, some years ago that would absolutely have been the case. In the case of the UN organizations and a number of the other organizations, grant is the structure that is used. What we have now done is we've

Foreign Affairs committee  No. The important element, actually, is for the specific programs. Now, for example, if we worked with the World Bank on a program like the Afghanistan reconstruction trust fund—

Foreign Affairs committee  —we would actually receive specific statements, as well as third party oversights by Deloitte Touche, in terms of how the funds are being used. So what we're able to do now, at the program level, is to have a clear understanding of how the moneys are actually being used.

Foreign Affairs committee  Let me note very quickly that we're going to be spending over $250 million this year. Last year we increased from $100 million to $139 million, and last year we increased from $8 million to $39 million, so a fourfold increase—or $5 million to $39 million--almost an eightfold incr

Foreign Affairs committee  Thank you very much. It's an excellent question. It has been one of the real focal points for what we're doing, because the real hallmark of the agency is to actually show real results and actually be able to cost the results. Over the last half-decade or more, Canada has been

Foreign Affairs committee  Unlike other approaches that wait until the end of the program, meaning it's three to five years before results are seen, our approach in this case is to actually determine the mortality and morbidity rates—the illness rates—in the regions before we go in, and then we're working

Foreign Affairs committee  I'm going to ask Greg Graham to provide a few technical details on that subject. I'll continue afterwards.

Foreign Affairs committee  Thank you very much for your questions about the country that is our third concern after Afghanistan and Haiti. You asked a number of questions concerning not only CIDA, but also the government as a whole. I'm also going to ask my colleagues to answer a few questions. Since Janu

Foreign Affairs committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. I am very pleased to be here on behalf of the minister, Beverly Oda, to discuss the supplementary estimates as they apply to CIDA for the fiscal year 2007-08. I am joined by CIDA's acting vice-president of human resources and corporate services, Gregory Gra

Foreign Affairs committee  On the actual question in terms of an overall amount of money, under Minister Verner's direction, with the changes in the policy, the actual level of aid is remaining about the same as it was before. But as Minister Verner underlined, it's been done in a very careful, structured