Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Thank you to the members of the committee for this opportunity to speak with you this afternoon to provide the McLeod Group's views on your assessment of Canada's bilateral development assistance program.
The McLeod Group is made up of professionals with many years of experience in government, civil society, and academia, working across the fields of international development, diplomacy, and foreign policy. We work with others who value human rights, inclusion, equality, and sustainable development to advance Canadian policy and action on international co-operation and foreign affairs. We are not a program delivery organization. Some people have graced us with the title of “think tank”, whatever that means.
My own background includes a career at the Canadian International Development Agency and five years at the OECD development assistance committee, where I was in charge of peer reviews of member countries. I am currently a senior fellow at the School of International Development and Global Studies at the University of Ottawa.
The theme of my presentation today is that focus is not important, as some would argue, and that what really counts are other factors which do not, in our view, get enough attention.
The Canadian development co-operation program needs, first and foremost and in line with legislation, the Official Development Assistance Accountability Act of 2008 to be poverty focused. In its 2013 report, “Investments to End Poverty”, Development Initiatives, the international think tank, reported that in 43 countries development assistance was the largest single source of international finance.
This means that in those countries with populations totalling over 400 million, aid played a catalytic role and was the main external resource flow intended explicitly to promote development and welfare. Thus, in a world where there is a confusing array of financial flows, including royalties, remittances, foreign direct investment, civil society transfers, and development finance movements, development assistance still has a crucial role to play for a significant number of countries. In the countries I've just mentioned, and in many other countries, poverty remains deeply entrenched despite the reports that the number of people living in extreme poverty, that is, below $1.25 U.S. a day, has dropped.
In making its selection of partner countries for its bilateral assistance program, Canada should commit to the long haul. Pick countries and stick with them. Don't lurch from one list of so-called focus countries to another every couple of years, as seems to have been the case for the last decade. If the push is for focus and it is irresistible, then focus on the poorest countries, the least developed countries. Don't shy away from countries that present challenges to development:, those that have the label of “fragile state” or “donor orphan”.
By committing to long periods of co-operation, Canada will have the scope to build relationships and develop knowledge and expertise, which will help us work with the leaders of our partner countries and contribute to their strategies and programs—their strategies and programs. If difficult issues arise, perhaps with respect to human rights or democratic development, Canada will have the scope to openly and directly raise our concerns rather than arbitrarily suspend our aid amid a flurry of criticism.
It has been suggested in testimony, which I believe you have already received, that what we need is a generation-long attention span for our countries of focus. Predictability and reliability are also very important, as is aid volume. Money talks, and you get what you pay for, but that is for another discussion.
In terms of managing Canada's development assistance, there is scope for much improvement. Rather than treating Canadian non-governmental organizations as contractors or service providers, Global Affairs Canada should treat them as proper partners in the relationship with developing countries. This applies also to multilateral agencies. Respect their multilateral character and work to enhance their capacity to deal with development challenges, which increasingly are multicultural and multi-country in nature and demand regional and global approaches. Make sure that we are supporting these institutions as much as supporting the programs they deliver.
I recommend that decision-making be accelerated. Canada has a reputation as being very slow to make up its mind and commit. The impression is that the aid administration in Canada is enmeshed in many, many rules and procedures in the paralysis by analysis which seems to influence decision-making.
Accept that development assistance involves risk and be prepared to encounter failure, but then make sure that we and our partners learn from that.
Properly pursue aid effectiveness and implement the international commitments that Canada signed on to in 2005 through the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness. In 2012, in its review of Canada's development co-operation programs, the OECD development assistance committee observed that Canada had invented its own definition of aid effectiveness which seemed to the peers, who were the Netherlands and France, to be all about accountancy and efficiency rather than actual effectiveness.
Recognize that all three principal channels of development assistance, bilateral, multilateral, and civil society, contribute in their distinctive ways to progress in partnered developing countries.
Canada's aid strategy, which we very much look forward to seeing, should acknowledge this and explain the reasons that we support each channel and what we expect by way of outcomes. When results are being set for Canada's aid program, be very deliberate. Recognize that development co-operation is a partnership and that we accept that the achievement of outcomes and goals takes longer than we might hope, but that the sustainability cannot be rushed.
If among the themes chosen for our bilateral assistance is capacity development and support for democratic development, where we do have a certain expertise, we should commit, again for the long haul, but let's make sure that our engagement is needs driven, not just on the basis that it is what we are good at.
In conclusion, Mr. Chairman and committee members, the McLeod Group wishes you great success in your deliberations. We hope that you can help build a national political consensus on development co-operation. It is our hope also that your findings and recommendations will help move the Canadian development assistance program from charity to solidarity.
Thank you very much.