Event Date: March 28, 2025 - 9:30am to 1:00pm
Location: FSS 4007, 120 University Private, University of Ottawa

Registration: Google Forms

Presented by CIPS, the School of International Development and Global Studies at the University of Ottawa (SIDGS) and the Forum of Federations

The decision of the US Administration in January 2025 to issue a stop-work order to the US Aid agency and pause foreign development assistance, in effect dismantled the Agency. This has significant implications globally and domestically, and affects the international development community.

In 2024, US AID provided a large quantity (approximately 40%) of the total global humanitarian assistance. Many more billions were also spent on areas such as governance, human rights, and peacebuilding. The recent orders imposed on US AID stopped most US foreign aid programs, escalating humanitarian and other related crises.

An unfavorable global economic slowdown prompted other donors also to cut their aid budgets. It is feared that Canada will see a decline in its own spending on international development assistance. Even if American Assistance eventually resumes as a result of judicial or congressional intervention, the funding gap is immediate and must be filled. However, global aid budgets are in sharp decline as other donor countries are also cutting their aid. Canada is certain to see a decrease in its own spending on international development assistance.

To draw attention to the subject of the quality of aid and not quantity alone, it is important to underscore that critics have long identified key aspects of overseas development assistance that have been problematic. Many critics, including those in the system have known it to be cracking up. Aid is said to create vastly unequal power balances. The incentives in the system create bloated contractors and International Organizations with very large overheads. While international assistance delivers developmental benefits globally, it presents persistent challenges. Critics highlight inefficiencies, failures to learn from past experiences and deeply unequal power dynamics that reduce aid recipients to passive beneficiaries. The system’s incentives often inflate contractors and organizational overheads.

This event provides a unique opportunity to discuss with leading Canadian international development specialists what we have learned from past shortcomings and how we can forge a more equitable and impactful model of development assistance, particularly for countries like Canada, which are poised to play a prominent role on the global stage.

This event brings together leading Canadian experts in the area of international development to discuss the impact of the momentous change in the landscape of international aid. There will be two panel discussions with 30 minutes of reflections among panelists and facilitators, followed by 30 minutes of questions and answers involving the audience.

Agenda

9:30am-10:00am – Opening Session

• Video welcome by the Dean of Social Sciences, Professor Victoria Barham
• Dr. Nipa Banerjee – Adjunct Professor, School of International Development and Global Studies, and Principal Researcher, Centre for International Policy Studies
• Professor Joshua Ramisch, Director, School of International Development and Global Studies

10:00am – 10:30am – Panel 1: Why international development matters and how will we fill the gap left by USAID?

Panelists:

• Ms. Nancy Gordon, former Vice President of CARE Canada
• Professor Stephen Brown, School of Political Studies University of Ottawa

Chair: Professor Stephen Baranyi, School of International Development and Global Studies

10:30am-11:00am – Discussion and Q&A for Panel 1

11:00am-11:30am – Panel 2: While the US evaluates the future of development assistance, and in an era of retrenchment, what lessons have been learned so that Canada can do better with less?

Panelists:

• Professor Lauchlan Munro, School of International Development and Global Studies, and former Chief of Staff to the International Development Research Centre (IDRC)
• Idee Inyangudor, Vice President of Global Partnerships for Wellington Advocacy and former Harper Government Senior Advisor on International Development

Chair: Dr. Rupak Chattopadhyay, President of the Forum of Federations

11:30am-12:00pm – Discussion and Q&A for Panel 2

12:00pm-1:00pm – Light Lunch Buffet