Madam Speaker, on September 29 the Minister of International Cooperation tabled in Parliament the first summary of our government's official development assistance, ODA, activities, the first such report since the Official Development Assistance Accountability Act came into effect.
This evening, on behalf of the minister, I am pleased to tell the member that the government has taken a significant number of steps to fully implement the act.
Allow me to note that the act requires federal departments administering ODA to demonstrate that they are contributing to poverty reduction, that they are taking into account the perspectives of the poor, and that they are being consistent with international human rights standards. Naturally, we were already doing this.
Two new reports are required, one within six months of the start of the fiscal year, focusing on the nature of results achieved through our government's development assistance activities, and the other at the end of 12 months, giving a statistical report on ODA disbursements.
As I mentioned, the first report was tabled on September 29. The next one will be tabled before March 31 of next year. The ODA disbursements included in the summary report meet the ODA definition of the act and of the OECD.
In addition to regular reports, consultations are an important part of the act. CIDA is responsible for about two-thirds of our government's ODA and thus plays the leading role in implementing the act. We see consultations as an integral part of our policy and programming cycles.
This summer consultations with experts and stakeholders took place on three thematic priorities which we, as the government, have mandated for our ODA: increased food security; sustainable economic growth; and a secure future for children and youth.
In addition, prior to the announcement of our 20 countries of focus, we held discussions with many governments, international organizations, leading experts and civil society organizations about the need to focus our bilateral development assistance program. I would like to point out that we are making our aid much more focused, and this is the country of focus policy. It only applies to our bilateral funding. Every other nation in need of aid can still receive our multilateral and partnership support.
Before the ODA Accountability Act was passed, our project assessment process already took into account those principles and they are incorporated in our planning documents, including the country development programming frameworks that guide our funding decisions.
Our government has led CIDA into incorporating poverty reduction, human rights and perspectives on poverty in its policies and programs. Our programs are consistent with international human rights standards, which require a do no harm approach, ensuring that our programs do not contribute to violations of human rights.
We have also provided direction to CIDA staff through a variety of tools that spell out how the act is to be applied to the work of the agency. Finally, the agency has developed a consultation directive to give its employees formal direction on consultations.
As the member can see, our government had already taken steps to ensure that our aid is focused, accountable and effective. It is imperative that we use our aid to produce real results to assist the people of our world who are struggling against various circumstances.
Unlike the previous government's administration, we are taking our foreign aid seriously and continue to make CIDA an effective and respected agency. Our approach to foreign aid already reflected the principles of the act and it was therefore not difficult for us to abide by it.