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May 9, 2008 Ending Poverty Becomes the Exclusive Goal of Canadian Foreign AidMay 9, 2008 - Development NGOs Applaud Passing of Foreign Aid Bill
Members of Parliament are to be commended for unanimously passing Bill C-293 today. Also known as the “better aid bill,” Bill C-293 makes ending poverty the exclusive goal of Canadian foreign aid.
“What we’ve seen here today is the putting aside of partisanhip to ensure that ending global poverty is given the attention and support it deserves,” said Gerry Barr, President and CEO of the Canadian Council for International Cooperation (CCIC). “The Conservatives, Liberals, Bloc Québecois and New Democrats were all on side for this Bill.”
Canada’s foreign aid must now focus on poverty reduction, take into account the priorities of the people living in poverty and be consistent with Canada’s international human rights obligations. Bill C-293 also makes Canada’s aid spending more accountable and transparent.
But both more and better aid is needed. CCIC is calling for a timetable to increase Canadian foreign aid spending by 15 per cent annually for the next 10 years to reach the United Nations aid target of 0.7 per cent of Gross National Income by 2017.
“Increasing foreign aid is critical to ending poverty,” said Maria-Luisa Monreal, Director General of the Association québécoise des organismes de coopération internationale, “but improving the quality of the aid distributed is just important as its quantity. And this Bill does that.”
For more information on Make Poverty History, go to http://www.makepovertyhistory.ca/en/take-action. To send a thank you to the leaders that made this happen, go to http://www.makepovertyhistory.ca/en/betteraid/action/thank-you.
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