Thank you. It's my privilege to be here today and to be among what is a very diverse set of witnesses.
Results Canada is a national grassroots advocacy organization that is committed to creating the political will to end extreme poverty globally. Extreme poverty is a place where hunger and disease thrive, and where too often children don't live to reach school age, let alone attend school. It's a place where home might be a corrugated tin shack in an urban slum. One in ten, or 767 million, people live there.
At Results we champion cost-effective, proven, tangible, and high-impact solutions and approaches that address the causes and mitigate the impact of poverty. Our volunteers across the country are parents who think that no parent's child should die needlessly from a lack of immunization that costs pennies. They are neighbours who think that nobody around the block or around the world should suffer from a disease that costs dollars to treat. They're everyday citizens from coast to coast. They're your constituents. I'm honoured to be here today to represent their views.
The most important message I want to bring today is that Canada does not stand alone in the world. In our interconnected globe, ensuring that our international aid envelope is increased is not only about being charitable or about making good on global commitments but also in Canada's strategic interest, and not to give away the ending, that is my single recommendation today: ensure that the next federal budget, unlike the last, commits to increasing Canada's international assistance envelope.
As members of the finance committee, you know that how we allocate our resources paints a picture of who we are as a people—what we stand for in the world, what we hold as values—and right now, when it comes to foreign aid, that picture is more Dorian Gray than it is Group of Seven.
There are three key reasons that this matters and why I hope you will include this recommendation in your report to the House.
First, it matters because our credibility is at stake globally and here at home. Canada used to be a leader when it came to foreign aid. In fact, we literally set the bar. This week 47 years ago, a commission led by Lester Pearson set the target that called for rich countries to commit 0.7% of GNI to international assistance. That was 70¢ for every $100 we earned. Today Canada's support for international assistance hovers around 26¢ for every $100 we earn. Despite leading the G7 in growth, that puts us at the bottom of the list compared with international allies and far below the global target. It's also a new low historically for Canada. If we stay on this track, this government will have the worst record on aid than any government in decades, Conservative or Liberal.
It's time to right this situation. It's time to make good on a recommendation that came out of this very committee last year, when you called on the Government of Canada to increase its investments in ODA to reach 0.35% of gross domestic product within three years.
Second, it matters because the world is increasingly interconnected. What happens over there matters over here. In my earlier days working in development, I used to say that our neighbour's house is on fire and we can stand by and watch it burn or we can work together to put out the flame, but now that house is a duplex. We live on the other side of the wall. If we watch it burn, we do so at our own peril. In our increasingly global economy and community, in an instant external events or trends could impact our own economic interests, national priorities, policies, and directions.
Consider these facts. Today, with rampant migration and displacement, there are more refugees in the world than in any other time in recorded history. Diseases like Ebola, which shook the world a few years ago, or tuberculosis, which has been with us for centuries, are airborne infectious diseases that do not respect geopolitical borders. Right now, as we sit in this room, alarm bells are sounding on what the UN is calling the largest humanitarian crisis since the creation of the United Nations. A catastrophic famine has 20 million people starving, or at risk of starving, in Yemen, Somalia, South Sudan, and Nigeria. These challenges have global impacts, and they demand global solutions, interventions, and investment. The duplex is on fire. Doing our part to quell the fire is in our own strategic interest.
Third and finally, it matters because there is tremendous potential and opportunity to tap, and Canada is well positioned to be a leader in unlocking and benefiting from that potential. Aid works, and aid coupled with smart development policy has seen tremendous wins. Child deaths have been cut in half and the number of people living in extreme poverty is lower than ever before, but hard-won gains require smart, sustained support. Today's generation of young people is the largest in history. Globally, half the world's population is under 30. Nine out of ten people aged 10 to 24 live in low-income countries. This massive wave of youth could be alarming—or it could be viewed as an opportunity to support a generation of young people who are equipped to transform the world. There are many things we could be doing, with support for education being at the top of the list.
With 263 million children out of school globally, investing in education, gender empowerment, and other critical inventions will be critical to quelling the alarm in favour of opportunity.
In the coming months, Canada has two opportunities to shine in this space. In February, the Global Partnership for Education will be hosting a replenishment in Senegal. Canada can and should be leading in contributions. Beyond that, when Canada hosts the G7 next year, we could lead on a development initiative that prioritizes actions to support girls' education and training within fragile contexts.
Educating girls is a best buy in development. Every dollar invested in an additional year of education sees a return of $10 in future earnings and health benefits. Together, these investments could really make a big difference, but they won't if we are just cutting off a bigger piece of an increasingly shrinking pie.
In conclusion, aid matters, and Canada's leadership matters beyond our borders now more than ever. Please consider recommending that aid, especially impactful and effective aid, is prioritized in your recommendations, as you did last year. The eyes of the world will be on Canada in 2018. Let's live up to the leadership, compassion, and vision that this opportunity affords.
Thank you.