Twelve of the world's poorest countries - including Afghanistan, Pakistan and seven nations in Africa - are going to be hit as the Conservative government cuts its foreign aid budget by $377 mil-lion in the next three years.
Many of the affected countries rely on international assistance to provide food and other ser-vices to millions of citizens.
A source within the Canadian International Development Agency said Benin, Niger, Cambodia, China, Nepal, Rwanda, Zambia and Zimbabwe are expected to lose virtually all Canadian aid. Reductions are planned for five major aid recipients: Afghanistan, Bolivia, Mozambique, Pakistan and Tanzania. CIDA officials refused to comment Thursday, saying Canadians, aid groups and affected countries will be told in the coming weeks how the changes will affect them.
Until recently, Afghanistan was the largest recipient of Canadian aid, receiving more than $200 million a year by 2011. This money was spent on things such as building and repairing schools, training Afghan civil servants and providing polio vaccines.
The decision to cut assistance to Afghanistan as well as to Pakistan will be viewed as another sign of Canada's waning interest in the volatile Central Asian region ahead of a full military withdrawal from Afghanistan by 2014.
A Pakistani diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the high commission in Ottawa had heard rumours CIDA was looking to pare back assistance to the Asian nation, which totalled $143.6 million last year.
Benin, Niger, Cambodia, Rwanda and Zambia were downgraded as aid partners when the Conservative government shook up CIDA in 2009.
Lucien Bradet, president of the Canadian Council on Africa, said relations between the Conservative government and African nations had been improving recently after years of tension over budget cuts and apparent disinterest.
But the CIDA cuts, he said, will reopen old wounds and make the government's goal of doing more business with the continent more difficult.
Meanwhile, a number of critics have been calling for CIDA to end its foreign aid to China, which has been focused on promoting human rights and environmental protection. The critics have questioned why Canada continues to give nearly $30 million in assistance to China when it is the world's second-largest economy.
The Conservative government's decision to slash Canadian foreign aid over the next three years has been criticized by development group and opposition parties, who note the United Kingdom refrained from doing the same, despite major budget cuts.
Original Article
Source: vancouver sun
Author: Lee Berthiaume
Many of the affected countries rely on international assistance to provide food and other ser-vices to millions of citizens.
A source within the Canadian International Development Agency said Benin, Niger, Cambodia, China, Nepal, Rwanda, Zambia and Zimbabwe are expected to lose virtually all Canadian aid. Reductions are planned for five major aid recipients: Afghanistan, Bolivia, Mozambique, Pakistan and Tanzania. CIDA officials refused to comment Thursday, saying Canadians, aid groups and affected countries will be told in the coming weeks how the changes will affect them.
Until recently, Afghanistan was the largest recipient of Canadian aid, receiving more than $200 million a year by 2011. This money was spent on things such as building and repairing schools, training Afghan civil servants and providing polio vaccines.
The decision to cut assistance to Afghanistan as well as to Pakistan will be viewed as another sign of Canada's waning interest in the volatile Central Asian region ahead of a full military withdrawal from Afghanistan by 2014.
A Pakistani diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the high commission in Ottawa had heard rumours CIDA was looking to pare back assistance to the Asian nation, which totalled $143.6 million last year.
Benin, Niger, Cambodia, Rwanda and Zambia were downgraded as aid partners when the Conservative government shook up CIDA in 2009.
Lucien Bradet, president of the Canadian Council on Africa, said relations between the Conservative government and African nations had been improving recently after years of tension over budget cuts and apparent disinterest.
But the CIDA cuts, he said, will reopen old wounds and make the government's goal of doing more business with the continent more difficult.
Meanwhile, a number of critics have been calling for CIDA to end its foreign aid to China, which has been focused on promoting human rights and environmental protection. The critics have questioned why Canada continues to give nearly $30 million in assistance to China when it is the world's second-largest economy.
The Conservative government's decision to slash Canadian foreign aid over the next three years has been criticized by development group and opposition parties, who note the United Kingdom refrained from doing the same, despite major budget cuts.
Original Article
Source: vancouver sun
Author: Lee Berthiaume
No comments:
Post a Comment