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.
“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.
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.
According to Global Affairs Canada, this means that total foreign aid for this fiscal year “is expected to exceed $7 billion,” although the department did not provide a specific figure.
“When others withdraw or talk about withdrawing from the world, we redouble our commitment,” International Development Minister Ahmed Hussen said on Wednesday.
A year ago, the Liberals faced persistent criticism from the humanitarian aid sector when they allocated $6.9 billion, a 15% drop from the previous year. Previous exercice.
The Trudeau government had pledged to increase foreign aid every year of its mandate, but the Liberals explained that they exceptionally increased spending due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine, eventually exceeding the 8 billion.
“Unprecedented needs”
The new increase announced Tuesday comes at a time that Mme Higgins describes unprecedented needs and complexity, colored by major wars in the Gaza Strip, Ukraine and Sudan, as well as conflicts and massive migration crises in Myanmar, 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 UNICEF Canada, nearly a quarter of the world’s children live in or are fleeing conflict zones.
Minister Hussen said Canada will continue to focus on supporting women and helping them create the conditions necessary for peace.
“Our government believes and knows the value of international assistance and the results it produces around the world, and right here at home. Canada is therefore shaping a more peaceful, more prosperous and more resilient world,” he declared.
Tuesday’s budget also reaffirms Canada’s commitment to pushing for reform of multilateral financial institutions like the World Bank. The aim is to help poor countries escape the debt trap and financial burden of catastrophic natural disasters, focusing instead on the opportunity to invest in infrastructure that is more resilient to climate change.
Mme Cooperation Canada’s Higgins was happy to see the commitment reiterated, but she stressed that Ottawa needs to be more transparent in how it reports its data, especially since the budget does not specify the cumulative figure of the foreign aid for this fiscal year.
Canada, host of the G7 in 2025
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 start increasing their foreign aid again.
The G7 has countries like the United States, Japan and Germany sending ministers for meetings throughout the year in the host country, culminating in a leaders’ summit.
This means Ottawa can use its influence now to start pushing countries to increase their aid funding in 2025 and for the G7 to pay more attention to crises beyond the Russian invasion of Ukraine , said M.me Higgins. “We will push the government to really examine the scale and scope of the humanitarian crisis around the world. »
Minister Hussen would not say whether Canada planned to encourage its G7 peers to do more, but instead lambasted the Conservatives for their “reckless” commitment in February to divert an unspecified amount of “unnecessary” foreign aid towards military spending. The Conservatives did not respond to an interview request.
We can’t make up for the cuts
The New Democratic Party (NDP) foreign affairs spokesperson, Heather McPherson, believes that the announced increase does not compensate for the cuts made by the governments of Stephen Harper and Justin Trudeau in recent years.
“We are not there,” argued Mme McPherson, considering that the situations in Haiti, Sudan and Gaza resemble famines.
She noted that Canada still fell short of the global target for humanitarian aid for rich countries, set at 0.7% of gross national product in the 1960s by Liberal 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 Liberals were adopting “short-sighted” policies by 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. »