…and more empty promised to post
Ok. So petitions, like blogs, aren’t really my thing. My extreme tendency to relativism and my conflict aversion generally precludes such attempts to influence others. BUT, I think this is a useful petition AND in way of incentives (which relate a lot to my placement here in Malawi but more on that later when I actually write a blog post), signing a petition is a nice way to spend 30 seconds of your day reminiscing about your activism days or, if you never had any, feeling as though you can justify all sorts of bad behaviour for the remaining 86,370 seconds.
But seriously, CIDA recently announced a shift in aid away from low income countries in Africa to middle income countries in the Americas. Apparently leaders in a number of the countries which didn’t make the cut were not so much as sent a conciliatory “it’s not you, it’s me” letter and discovered their change in status through the media. Within a couple of weeks, we here in Malawi discovered that while CIDA would cease providing bilateral aid in Malawi, the Canadian government would still very much appreciate Malawi’s vote in their bid for a spot on the United Nations Security Council! Actually, they want it so much that they actually sent Deepak Obhrai, the parliamentary secretary to the minister of foreign affairs (you can call him the PS for short), to Malawi for a 24 hour period to snuggle up to the Malawian government (http://www.nyasatimes.com/national/3008.html).
Isn’t that fascinating?
I don’t proclaim to understand much about government machinations (perhaps my own cerebral limitations, but probably not… just kidding) but the PURPOSE of the petition is that it might be nice to know WHY this decision was made to stop providing aid to countries that need it most. Maybe, and I type this as sincerely as I am able to type, there is reasoning behind it that makes perfect sense. Well, those of us who have signed this petition would just like to know what that might be.
Here is the link to the petition… http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/canada-aid-shift
Below is what the petition says. Remember, if you sign it you can eat ice cream after without the guilt.
More posts to come… I promise!
This petition simply requests that the Government of Canada explain why it is shifting foreign aid away from low income African countries towards wealthier countries in the Americas.
The purpose of Canadian foreign aid is to reduce poverty and the shift to focusing on wealthier countries requires an explanation. Without knowing the reasons for the government’s change of direction, Canadians cannot ensure that our foreign aid is spent effectively and appropriately. After all, the current government ran an election on accountability and transparency.
More info:
The Government of Canada has announced that it will be shifting its development assistance from 8 low income African countries, such as Rwanda, towards middle income countries from the Americas, such as Colombia. Of concern is the fact that the dropped African countries are much worse off than the added countries from the Americas.
Average life expectancy
-> Dropped countries from Africa: 48 years
-> Added countries from the Americas: 72 years
-> source: UNDP
Population living on less than $2 per day
-> Dropped countries from Africa: 72% of the population
-> Added countries from the Americas: 24% of the population
-> source: UNDP
Simply put, this petition requests that the Government of Canada explain its rationale for shifting the focus of Canadian foreign aid.
Countries that were dropped from Canada’s foreign aid list: Benin, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Cameroon, Guyana, Kenya, Malawi, Nicaragua, Niger, Rwanda, Sri Lanka, Zambia Countries added to Canada’s foreign aid list: Afghanistan, Colombia, Haiti, Peru, Sudan, the West Bank/Gaza, the Caribbean
-> source: UNDP Source: http://www.acdi-cida.gc.ca/CIDAWEB/acdicida.nsf/En/JUD-51895926-JEP
