Standing Up Versus Marching Forward: Efforts to End Early and Forced (Child) Marriage

• September 28, 2014

 Together with like-minded partners, Canada will continue to unabashedly champion the rights of, and opportunities for, girls and women around the world. After all—if we don’t speak up for them, who will?

– John Baird, July 2014

Canada’s claims …

The Death of the North-South Institute

• September 16, 2014

by Lauchlan Munro

Canada’s only independent think tank on international development and foreign policy, the North-South Institute, will soon close its doors. According to media reports, the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development (DFATD) communicated its decision not to …

Mr. Harper’s Maternal and Child Health Summit: What’s Still Missing?

• June 11, 2014

By Rieky Stuart and Stephen Brown

Published on the McLeod Group Blog, June 10, 2014

The Canadian government’s recent Maternal, Newborn and Child Health (MNCH) Summit in Toronto has not lacked for cheerleaders, especially NGOs receiving funding under the …

An Ex-CIDA Officer’s Reflections on Afghanistan: Looking Back, Looking Forward

• March 13, 2014

The departure of Canadian troops from Afghanistan does not mark the end of Canadian aid to that country. To move forward, however, Canada must accept the strategic mistakes of the past and record the lessons learned, not only to avoid …

Aid Budgets or Poverty Reduction? Worry About the Right Priority First

• February 20, 2014

The federal government announced a 7.5% cut in Canada’s Overseas Development Assistance (ODA) budget for the fiscal year 2012. In addition, former CIDA funds not spent (and thus lapsed) represented close to 10% of CIDA’s aid budget for 2012. The …

When Policy Coherence is a Bad Thing

• February 3, 2014

In July 2013, when the government abolished the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) and transferred its functions to the newly renamed Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development (DFATD), it did so mainly in the name of policy coherence. The …

Canada and Bangladesh: Beyond Rana Plaza

• January 20, 2014

By Alicia Dobson and Stephen Baranyi

This essay, along with the ones by Yiagadeesen (Teddy) Samy and by Syed Sajjadur Rahman, arose out of the Bangladesh: Out of Fragility symposium held at the University of Ottawa on November 26, …

Why is Ottawa Accelerating its International Aid Budget Cuts by Stealth?

• January 14, 2014

by Bruce Montador

The Harper government started two years ago to cut back on official development assistance (ODA), announcing in 2012 a three-year series of cuts (even if Canada is among the donor countries least under fiscal pressure to cut …