Thank you.
My name is Emilynn Goodwin. I'm a student at the University of New Brunswick, and I'm one of the co-presidents of the University of New Brunswick Chapter of Engineers Without Borders . Engineers Without Borders Canada is a non-governmental organization that invests in people and ventures to create sustainable development. We have a community of 40 university and professional chapters and that includes 2,500 active members who provide seed funding, talent, and mentorship to social enterprises in sub-Saharan Africa. I'm here to speak to you today because the Government of Canada has committed to restoring and renewing international assistance and to refocusing on the poorest and most vulnerable, specifically women and girls. Canada has already taken steps toward re-engaging on the world stage in this way.
However, Engineers Without Borders Canada has noticed that Canada's development assistance is not quite up where some of the other G7 countries are, and we believe that's impairing our ability to implement the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the sustainable development goals.
For the budget, we ask that Canada commit to predictable increases to the international assistance envelope of 10% annually to the end of the 42nd Parliament and to also have a publicly available timetable doubling the envelope by 2023. We would also ask that Canada aim to meet the UN funding target of 0.7% of our GNI around 2030. We feel that making a strong official development assistance commitment aligns with the ministerial mandate and is a good stepping stone toward making progress on those sustainable development goals.
Thank you for your time.