Development Cooperation for a More Stable, Inclusive and Prosperous World

Robert D. Nault Chair NOVEMBER 2016 42nd PARLIAMENT, 1st SESSION Published under the authority of the Speaker of the House of Commons SPEAKER’S PERMISSION Reproduction of the proceedings of the House of Commons and its Committees, in whole or in part and in any medium, is hereby permitted provided that the reproduction is accurate and is not presented as official. [...] In particular, the evaluation should address the selection criteria that have been used to determine Canada’s countries of focus and development partners, clarify how those criteria resulted in the existing lists of countries, and indicate the conditions that would trigger the addition or withdrawal of countries from those lists in the future. [...] That review aimed to “rethink Canada’s policies and programs in order to better respond to the challenges and opportunities of the new global context.”2 While the Committee set out to study the countries of focus, it ended up hearing about a far greater range of issues relevant to Canadian development policy, all of which are relevant to the government’s review, and any decisions or new directions [...] In the section that follows, the report summarizes the ideas and proposals that the Committee heard in relation to the countries of focus, including possible alternative approaches. [...] Marlen Mondaca, Director of International Programs, Save the Children Canada, told the Committee that, within Peru, “indigenous Quechua children have life chances equivalent to the average for girls and boys in Gambia, one of the poorest countries in the world.”34 At the same time, acute needs persist in the least developed countries,35 where the reliance on international assistance remains the hi