(Ottawa) Foreign aid groups welcome the federal Liberal government’s increased humanitarian and development spending, but want a plan to push allied countries to reverse the global decline in humanitarian assistance.
The Liberals committed, in their budget tabled Tuesday, to increase humanitarian aid by 150 million during the 2024-2025 fiscal year and by 200 million the following year.
“This was the right time for Canada to step up and demonstrate global leadership by committing to additional new humanitarian funding,” said Kate Higgins, director of Cooperation Canada, which represents more of 100 non-profit organizations.
International Development Minister Ahmed Hussen would not confirm the total amount of Canada’s foreign aid. Mme Higgins estimates that total at just over 7 billion this year and 7.2 billion next year. According to her, the government needs to be more transparent in the way it communicates data.
“We can talk about the details at another time.” What I can tell you, because the budget has just been presented, is that we are very happy with the fact that our government is increasing international aid,” Mr. Hussen said in an interview on Wednesday.
The Liberals faced persistent criticism from the humanitarian aid sector last year when they invested $6.9 billion, a 15% drop from the previous year.
The Trudeau government had pledged to increase foreign aid every year of its mandate, but it had reached unexpected heights due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine, exceeding 8 billion in 2022-2023 .
Increase needed
This new increase in humanitarian funding comes, according to Mme Higgins, in a time of unprecedented need and complexity, colored by major wars in the Gaza Strip, Ukraine and Sudan, as well as conflicts and massive migration crises in Burma, Nigeria and Venezuela.
Countries known for spending on humanitarian aid, such as the United Kingdom and France, have reduced their budgets allocated to this area, citing pressures on their national economies.
According to New Democratic Party (NDP) foreign affairs critic Heather McPherson, the increase in humanitarian aid does not make up for the cuts by the Harper and Trudeau governments in recent years.
“We are not there,” argued Mme McPherson, considering that the situations in Haiti, Sudan and Gaza resemble famines.
She stressed that Canada still does not meet the global target for humanitarian aid for rich countries, set at 0.7% of gross national product by former Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson. The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) estimates that Canada’s spending last year was half of that target, or 0.38%.
“The world needs Canada to pay its fair share and play an important role,” said Mr.me McPherson. She also argued that the Liberals were “narrow-sighted” in increasing military spending at a much higher rate than on humanitarian aid or diplomacy.
The NDP supports increasing aid to Ukraine, but Canadian diplomats and aid workers could do more to prevent the factors that cause global crises, said Heather McPherson. “We have such strong diplomats who could accomplish so much, if only we gave them the tools. »
On Tuesday, Cooperation Canada and other aid coalitions called on Ottawa to use its G7 presidency next year to push some of the planet’s most powerful countries to invest more in foreign aid.
Ottawa can use its influence now to push countries to increase funding in 2025 and for the G7 to pay more attention to crises other than the Russian invasion of Ukraine, explained Ms.me Higgins. “We will push the government to really examine the scale and scope of the humanitarian crisis around the world. »
Minister Ahmed Hussen did not reveal Canada’s intentions on this issue, instead castigating the Conservatives for their “reckless” commitment in February to divert an unspecified amount of “unnecessary” foreign aid to military spending. The Conservative Party of Canada did not respond to our interview request.
reference: www.lapresse.ca