Hello. I'm grateful for the opportunity to speak here today.
My name is Min Hyu, and I volunteer with Engineers Without Borders Canada. In budget 2019, I'm asking that the Canadian government commit to a 10-year timetable of predictable and annual increases of 15% to the international assistance envelope. This refers to recommendation 85 that the committee made last year on its support in pre-budget consultations, as well as the OECD report on Canada released mid-September.
Last year, we were encouraged to see Canada increasing its ODA in budget 2018, but despite that increase, Canada's ODA spending is still near a historical low, and well below many of our global peers.
ODA is fundamental in shaping global prosperity. These investments support vital services such as health care and education in some of the least-developed countries in the world. We're not asking the Canadian government to suddenly jump from 0.26 GNI to 0.7% right away. We're asking that the ODA be increased through a predicable timetable in budget 2019 that would show Canada is a committed global leader helping create a better world for everyone.
Thank you again for the opportunity. If you have any questions, I will be sticking around.
Thank you.