Hosting Montreal conference shows Canada is back on the global stage
Last weekend, the Canadian government successfully hosted the fifth Global Fund replenishment conference in Montreal. If the objective was to demonstrate that Canada can be called upon to rally the international community around urgent global issues, it was achieved. The fund almost reached the $13-billion pledge target ($12.9-billion on last count, with some pledges still […]
Politics this morning: Trudeau, Bibeau in New York City
Today is Tuesday, September 20. Here are the seven political events happening today that you should know about: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will give his first address as prime minister at the United Nations General Assembly in New York City today. He will likely try to rebrand Canada to the multilateral organization, which the previous […]
Dr. Jim Yong Kim: a pro-child banker
In 1994 when he treated tuberculosis patients in Peru, Dr. Jim Yong Kim blamed Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori’s and the World Bank’s austerity measures for worsening poverty and epidemics. While posted at the World Health Organization, he sought to provide even the poorest AIDS patients with treatment. He negotiated lower prices for antiretrovirals. That was […]
Canada-Africa economic ties at a crossroads
Stephen Harper’s Conservative government focused on economic diplomacy over development challenges in Africa. Now, Ottawa’s policymakers under Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government face the daunting challenge of managing Africa’s socio-economic development imperative with Canada’s commercial interests, especially when it comes to natural-resources governance throughout the continent. Challenges ahead The African region possesses vast mineral and oil […]
DM Peter Boehm earns colleagues’ respect as mentor, mental health advocate
When I emailed Peter Boehm, the new deputy minister for international development, for an interview, he responded almost immediately. He’d be happy to speak with me, either over the phone or to meet me in person at his office. It was a pleasant surprise: high-level government officials such as Mr. Boehm are rarely so accessible […]
G20 needs new blood, sense of mission
As China prepares to host the G20 leaders’ summit for the first time this week, it’s promising a different kind of summit, one focused on global development and the challenges of implementing the pro-poor goals of the UN’s new Agenda 2030. But China seems fated to do little better than past chairs. The G20 is […]
Making Canada’s foreign aid more effective, innovative, and transparent
OTTAWA—The end of July marked the wrap-up of public consultations held as part of Global Affairs Canada’s International Assistance Review, the first major examination of our international co-operation agenda in over two decades. Civil society groups in the international development sector engaged fully in the process during the past months, contributing to a lively discussion […]
As Syrian hospitals are destroyed daily, the world’s apathy is horrifying
The images shown in the media of parents crying over their lost children, of civilians being attacked in a war they didn’t sign up for, of bodies left in the streets are not an exaggeration. I cannot shake the image of water washing down the steps of a building, tainted red with the blood of […]
Foreign aid must promote, not threaten, human right to water
When Justin Trudeau came to power last fall, the mere fact that the Canadian prime minister called himself a feminist and acknowledged climate science was celebrated around the world. Among other promises, Trudeau pledged to transform Canada’s role in the world. He recently told the Toronto Star that the UN’s expectation that wealthy states spend […]
How agricultural research reduces poverty
On the dusty backroads of Kenya, farmers with one or two acres of land talked about some of the difficulties they face: a disease in cassava, inadequate fodder for their animals, degraded soils and moulds in maize. And in two world-class research centres nearby, scientists from the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research talked about […]
