Development Cooperation for a Stable Inclusive and Prosperous World
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DEVELOPMENT COOPERATION FOR A MORE STABLE, INCLUSIVE AND PROSPEROUS WORLD: A COLLECTIVE AMBITION Report of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development Hon. Robert D. Nault Chair NOVEMBER 2016 42nd PARLIAMENT, 1st SESSION Published under the authority of the Speaker of the House of Commons SPEAKER’S PERMISSION Reproduction of the proceedings of the House of Commons and its Committees, in whole or in part and in any medium, is hereby permitted provided that the reproduction is accurate and is not presented as official. This permission does not extend to reproduction, distribution or use for commercial purpose of financial gain. Reproduction or use outside this permission or without authorization may be treated as copyright infringement in accordance with the Copyright Act. Authorization may be obtained on written application to the Office of the Speaker of the House of Commons. 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Also available on the Parliament of Canada Web Site at the following address: http://www.parl.gc.ca DEVELOPMENT COOPERATION FOR A MORE STABLE, INCLUSIVE AND PROSPEROUS WORLD: A COLLECTIVE AMBITION Report of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development Hon. Robert D. Nault Chair NOVEMBER 2016 42nd PARLIAMENT, 1st SESSION STANDING COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT CHAIR Hon. Robert D. Nault VICE-CHAIRS Dean Allison Hélène Laverdière MEMBERS Peter Fragiskatos Marc Miller Hon. Peter Kent Raj Saini Tom Kmiec Jati Sidhu Michael Levitt OTHER MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT WHO PARTICIPATED David Anderson Larry Maguire Robert Aubin Marco Mendicino Hon. Tony Clement Pierre Paul-Hus Julie Dabrusin Alain Rayes Garnett Genuis Sherry Romanado Pam Goldsmith-Jones Ramesh Sangha Karina Gould David Sweet Jacques Gourde Borys Wrzesnewskyj Joël Lightbound CLERK OF THE COMMITTEE Angela Crandall LIBRARY OF PARLIAMENT Parliamentary Information and Research Service Allison Goody, Analyst Brian Hermon, Analyst iii THE STANDING COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT has the honour to present its FOURTH REPORT Pursuant to its mandate under Standing Order 108(2), the Committee has studied the Canadian government's countries of focus for bilateral development assistance and has agreed to report the following: v TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF RECOMMENDATIONS .................................................................................... 1 DEVELOPMENT COOPERATION FOR A MORE STABLE, INCLUSIVE AND PROSPEROUS WORLD: A COLLECTIVE AMBITION ................................................... 3 INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................... 3 AID CONCENTRATION: A RECURRENT IDEA........................................................ 4 THE RATIONALE FOR COUNTRIES OF FOCUS: LOGIC AND EVIDENCE ........... 6 THERE ARE NO MAGICAL SOLUTIONS ................................................................. 9 BROADER OBSERVATIONS ABOUT CANADA’S APPROACH TO GLOBAL DEVELOPMENT ...................................................................................................... 13 A. Development is not what it once was ........................................................... 13 B. The Effective Management and Delivery of Development Assistance is as Important as the Determination of its Recipients ..................................... 15 C. Canada should be a Centre of Development Policy Excellence .................. 16 D. Canada needs a Long-term and Ambitious Strategy for International Development ................................................................................................ 18 CONCLUSION ......................................................................................................... 22 APPENDIX A: 2014 LIST OF THE COUNTRIES OF FOCUS AND DEVELOPMENT PARTNER COUNTRIES ....................................................................... 25 APPENDIX B: 2009 LIST OF COUNTRIES OF FOCUS .............................................. 27 APPENDIX C: 2005 LIST OF DEVELOPMENT PARTNER COUNTRIES ................... 29 APPENDIX D: 2002 LIST OF COUNTRIES FOR ENHANCED PARTNERSHIPS ....... 31 APPENDIX E: SELECT INDICATORS ON CANADA’S COUNTRIES OF FOCUS ...... 33 APPENDIX F: CANADA’S RELATIVE RANK AMONG DONORS (2014) .................... 35 APPENDIX G: CANADIAN OFFICIAL DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANCE AS A PERCENTAGE OF RECIPIENT COUNTRIES’ TOTAL AID (AVERAGE 2010–2014) ....................................................................... 37 APPENDIX H: CANADA’S OFFICIAL DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANCE AS A PERCENTAGE OF GROSS NATIONAL INCOME COMPARED TO G7 COUNTRIES AND OTHER OPEN AND MID-SIZED ECONOMIES (2015) ............................................................................. 39 APPENDIX I: WEIGHTED OFFICIAL DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANCE EXPENDITURE AS A PERCENTAGE OF GROSS NATIONAL INCOME BY CANADIAN PRIME MINISTER (1968–PRESENT) .................................................. 41 vii APPENDIX J: CANADA’S HISTORICAL OFFICIAL DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANCE ....................................................................................... 43 APPENDIX K: LIST OF WITNESSES .......................................................................... 45 APPENDIX L: LIST OF BRIEFS ................................................................................... 49 REQUEST FOR GOVERNMENT RESPONSE ............................................................. 51 SUPPLEMENTARY OPINION OF THE NEW DEMOCRATIC PARTY OF CANADA ................................................................................................................ 53 viii LIST OF RECOMMENDATIONS RECOMMENDATION 1 The Government of Canada’s new international assistance policy should reflect a transparent evaluation of the countries of focus approach and whether it has enhanced the impact and effectiveness of Canada’s development assistance. In particular, the evaluation should address the selection criteria that have been used to determine Canada’s countries of focus and development partners, clarify how those criteria resulted in the existing lists of countries, and indicate the conditions that would trigger the addition or withdrawal of countries from those lists in the future. The evaluation should also assess the results of concentrating 90% of all bilateral resources in 25 countries. ................................................................................. 8 RECOMMENDATION 2 The Government of Canada should evaluate the personnel recruitment and rotation policies used by Global Affairs Canada so as to ensure that there is substantive regional and sector-based development expertise within the department. ................................................ 9 RECOMMENDATION 3 The Government of Canada should ensure that its new international assistance policy establishes strategic objectives to guide Canadian development cooperation for at least the next 15 years, consistent with the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. That policy should take into account: all sources of development finance; all forms of development cooperation; and the development roles played by all actors in Canadian society. ........ 15 RECOMMENDATION 4 The Government of Canada should ensure that there is a branch within Global Affairs Canada that is dedicated solely to development policy research, analysis and evaluation. ...................................................... 17 1 RECOMMENDATION 5 The Government of Canada should, within the next year, publish a long-term engagement strategy for each of its bilateral and regional cooperation programs, and then ensure that those country and regional strategies are updated and evaluated at regular intervals. ............ 19 RECOMMENDATION 6 As part of its long-term engagement with development partners, the Government of Canada should favour long-term and predictable funding arrangements, prioritizing projects that involve local actors – including local civil society organizations – and that respond to needs identified by them, with a particular emphasis on initiatives that are aimed at empowering women and girls. ........................................... 19 RECOMMENDATION 7 The Government of Canada should aspire to a plan that would see Canada spending 0.70% of its gross national income (GNI) on official development assistance (ODA) by 2030. The first stage of that plan should see the government spending 0.35% of GNI on ODA in 2020. ......... 21 2 DEVELOPMENT COOPERATION FOR A MORE STABLE, INCLUSIVE AND PROSPEROUS WORLD: A COLLECTIVE AMBITION INTRODUCTION The House of Commons Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International