An Honourable Commitment: Policy coherence in Canada’s relations with the global South

This brief was part of a formal federal government consultation process, in response to then-Canadian International Development Agency’s paper “Towards a Long-term Strategy for Canada’s International Assistance Program, A Framework for Consultation" (CIDA, October 19, 2000). As such, it contributed to discussions within and outside of government concerning Canada’s moral and political role in the world. Specifically, the paper reflects on Canada’s relationship with the nations of the “global South” in a concerted international project to eradicate global poverty and reduce the terrible vulnerability of the world’s poor to chronic malnutrition, natural and unnatural disaster, tyranny, and civil violence.

 

The reflections in this paper emerge from Inter Pares’ direct experience in international anti-poverty action for (at that time) over twenty-five years, and discussions with our colleagues in the global south, as well as our involvement in policy dialogues in Canada and Europe, including our participation at the OECD DAC/POVNET Expert Consultation on Guidelines on Poverty Reduction in the Netherlands, in September 2000. The paper has also been informed by policy discussions within the Canadian Council for International Cooperation, and is supportive of CCIC’s own then-recent paper on Canada’s international

assistance program.