CIDA

By Stephen Brown, Ian Smillie in Embassy Mag. 9/21/2011

For instance, as Canada winds down its military involvement in Afghanistan, the Canadian International Development Agency will be "normalizing" aid to a level comparable to its 19 other "countries of focus." This confirms a poorly-kept secret: aid to Afghanistan was always more about Canadians, candy and Kandahar than about sustainable long-term development.

With aid levels frozen, there will be fierce competition for the freed-up funds. We should probably expect new assistance to Libya, where Canadian companies are already jockeying for important reconstruction and oil contracts.

We have already seen CIDA shift priorities to the Americas, where middle-income countries like Colombia and Peru have replaced low-income African countries as CIDA priorities, a move aimed primarily at greasing the skids for Canadian commercial interests. Following Prime Minister Stephen Harper's second extended visit to the region, aid there may become an even higher priority.

The aid budget freeze announced a year ago may not last—it could actually get worse. Like other government departments, CIDA is preparing scenarios for five per cent and 10 per cent budget cuts. This would push Canada further down the list of donor generosity, where we already rank 14 of 23 OECD countries.

Where multilateralism is concerned, funding has held up relatively well, especially for international financial institutions, but the knife looms here as well. CIDA has, in fact, increasingly left the policy leadership in this area to the Department of Finance, which was conservative before the Conservatives.

Insiders say CIDA is planning to rework—yet again—its list of priority countries, last rejigged only two years ago. So much for long-term partnerships being the basis of effective foreign aid. In this regard, one might well ask about CIDA Minister Bev Oda's magical mystery tour to Mongolia in August. Although Mongolia is not a CIDA focus country, our mining companies have made Canada Mongolia's second largest investor

Linking the global with local – ‘inclusive development’ for both North and South

Linking the global with local – ‘inclusive development’ for both North and South

13/09/2011

By Hans Zomer
This weekend I attended the CIVICUS World Assembly, to get a sense of current thinking among civil society actors from across the globe, and to help us strategise for the coming years.
Under the heading “Civil Society and Global Governance: Doing It Better“, the assembly focused on four overall themes – Development Effectiveness, Climate Justice, Connecting People through Technology and Civil Society and Democratic Space. Four themes that are directly relevant for NGOs in Ireland too.
We in Ireland need a national conversation on the shape and values of the new society we want to build on the ruins of the “Celtic Tiger”. A conversation that results in clear proposals for the type of “Development” we want: the type of economy, politics and values that “enhance people’s well-being and enlarge people’s choices” (= Dóchas’ working definition of what Development means).
This conversation, which is starting in Ireland through initiatives such as Claiming Our Future and the National Citizens’ Assembly and this week’s Sharing Responsibility in Shaping the Future, neatly mirrors similar discussions in many other countries – rich and poor.

(One speaker at the Civicus Assembly asked for sympathy for people in Europe as, he said, we have now woken up and realised that we are not living in a “developed” country, but that the process is on-going and that, as a

Ingrid and Kumi speak to an attentive group.

Civil Society gathers from around the world to meet,discuss, plan a vision and message.Obviously all of the major players from civil society throughout the whole world were not there," Williams said , "but we specifically took advantage of the fact that there was a CIVICUS World Assembly that's already on the radar, where you have a wide selection of global actors."

Many/some activists agree on the validity of the United Nations Millennium Declaration, but insist that the gap between the declaration and the resulting goals and indicators is too wide.

Naidoo said that, in working with the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), civil society has been "trying to make the best out of a bad framework that was put on the table".

"We are not talking about eradicating hunger, we are talking about reducing it by 50 percent by 2015. Not to even be able to achieve that is pathetic on the part of political leadership," he said, referring to the first of eight goals set by the United Nations.

---But GMO's as GLOBAL Food is not the solution; neither is the privatization of Global Health Care.--
There is also a price to pay for speaking out against the values held by the present Canadian Government.- i.e.the main speaker for 'Better Aid' was denied a visa by the Canadian Government to speak at the gathering. But, his substitute was very good at the explaining the realities of the situation.
The visiting UN Rep. then challenged the obvious knowledgeable Kumi "To build his own framework..." ;which to my disappointment he ignored. He wasn't listening.  Ingrid had better things to do and had left the room.

Some things never change..

Is it not strange ,my friend, that somethings never seem to change in Montreal; even after 50 years!??
I have black & white photos of myself ,and mother wearing "Mother & Daughter" Pink pin- stripe summer suits; boarding an airplane at the very same gate for Winnipeg that I was boarding that night. Now it is 2 levels down with a moving walkway. But then it was Dorval's pride,joy,employment and noise problem.  We even debarked the plane ,like we did 50 years ago. If they had only warned me of all the wonderful surprises.

Thoughts after the second day of the CIVICUS 2011 World Assembly by Patrick Johnston

Patrick Johnston,Posted September 12th,2011

It is late Sunday afternoon and the end of the second day of the 10^th CIVICUS World Assembly, being held in Montréal. There is one more day to come. I am a bit weary and almost ‘conferenced out’ but I’ll use this post to offer some initial observations. At the end of the conference, I’ll provide another post with some concluding comments.
This is the fifth World Assembly I have attended since my first – in Manila in 1999. I’ll touch on a few differences I have noted between this and the earlier World Assemblies. In the interests of full disclosure, it should be noted that I served as Board Chair of CIVICUS from 2001 to 2004, which may colour these comments .

Brian and others, including but not limited to Miguel Darcy D’Oliveira, Bill White, Rajesh Tandon, James Joseph and Miklós Marschall, were early believers in the need for a global association that would focus on the then relatively new concept of civil society. In spite of some sceptics who thought such a venture was doomed to fail, those early adopters persevered and informal meetings that began exactly 20 years ago this fall resulted in the formal establishment of CIVICUS two years later. Those civil society pioneers may not always have agreed with the directions taken by CIVICUS in subsequent years, but they should all feel a sense of deep satisfaction. Their vision means that there exists an organization with a strong global reach that continues to shine a light on the vital role played by an engaged citizenry. They deserve our thanks.

This World Assembly saw the impressive participation of over 860 delegates from more than 135 countries. Certain sessions were livestreamed so that many more were able to participate ‘virtually’.tent.

by Jay Naidoo ,

LESSONS FROM CIVICUS WORLD ASSEMBLY HELD IN MONTREAL - BUILDING A JUST WORLD

by Jay Naidoo on Tuesday, September 13, 2011 at 12:01pm

I spent the last 3 days at the Civicus World Assembly in Montreal talking to representatives of grassroots movements from around the world. It was a fascinating insight into the interconnectness of our struggles around the world for human rights, social justice human dignity and freedom. Events of North Africa has given people hope that meaningful change will take place and that fear of predatory elites and dictators is coming to an end.
These are the lessons I take away.
1. People are on the move. They have had enough of broken promises. They do not trust the global and national leadership to solve their problems. They see powerful vested interests who caused the economic and enviromental crisis and propped up dictatorial regimes still in the driving seat while hunger, unemployment, poverty, inequality and corruption are rising.
2. Civil society leadership need to connect to its base of people on the streets and to build accountability from the ground upwards. Civil society leaders must get out of their offices and build coalitions that promote insectoral struggles on the ground. We cannot remain in silos.
3. Civil society must define its development vision and programmes. We must provide innovative solutions. What is the our proposals on the 'green economy'? What is the 'just transition' we must ensure to a more enviromentally sound economy in the world?
4. Social media provide important tools for us to build solidarity and share knowledge and information. However organised people remain the core of any change and transformation.
5. Democratic debate, dissent and the freedom of assembly and association are fundamental human rights that must be fought for and defended. There are too many political leaders who believe they have some divine right to rule us.
6. Our engagement with multilateral forums and institutions must be based on a demand to be at the main table and have a right to all information. We cannot legitimise forums that seek to co-opt us and pay lip service to our demands.