Written Submission Pre-Budget Consultations in Advance of the 2021 Budget by Cooperation Canada the Canadian Partnership for Women and Children’s Health (CanWaCH) and the Canadian Coalition on Climate Change and Development (C4D)
List of Recommendations
Part I: Addressing humanitarian needs and investing in threatened development investments in light of COVID-19
Recommendation 1: that the Government invest 1% of its domestic COVID response and recovery spending on new and additional ODA to protect development gains that risk being lost in this pandemic and to address the exacerbation of humanitarian crises.
This means anchoring the $1.2 billion in additional ODA committed in 2020/21 into a permanent increase, and should translate to a $7.8 billion International Assistance Envelope (IAE) in 2021/22, as an imperative step towards (i) addressing the looming global health and humanitarian catastrophe of COVID-19, (ii) enabling the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals, and (iii) re-establishing Canada’s global leadership in solving core issues affecting Canadians everywhere.
Recommendation 2: that the Government commit to a roadmap for a predictable and adequately funded international assistance envelope by 2030, including a clear five year timetable for sustained increases, commensurate with Canada’s international commitments.
Part II: Investing in a just recovery for a safer, more prosperous world
Recommendation 3: that the Government commit to contributing Canada’s fair share of the allocations foreseen under the Paris Agreement. This means allocating $1.8 billion annually as principal purpose climate finance, additional to the baseline international assistance envelope.
Recommendation 4: that Canada’s ODA prioritizes the most marginalized by dedicating 50 percent of bilateral assistance to least developed countries (LDCs), low-income countries (LICs) and interventions in fragile contexts.
Recommendation 5: that Canada’s ODA meets the Grand Bargain commitment of allocating 25 percent of its humanitarian assistance to local organizations, with at least 15 percent designated for women-led local organizations.
Part III: Enabling the effectiveness of Canada’s international assistance
Recommendation 6: that the Government commit to a coherent feminist foreign policy oriented towards a more equitable and just recovery including gender transformative international assistance, debt relief, a feminist trade agenda, and diplomacy efforts geared towards the protection of public health, human rights and civic space.
Recommendation 7: that the Government undergo a regulatory reform proposed by the Senate private Bill S-222, which would amend the outdated ‘direction and control’ regulations for Canada’s charitable sector in a way that strengthens their effectiveness and accountability.
Introduction
The current outbreak of the coronavirus (hereafter COVID-19) has ballooned into a global pandemic that has triggered the deepest economic recession in nearly a century. The cumulative loss in output is expected to grow from USD 11 trillion over 2020-21 to USD 28 trillion over 2020-25. Within this economic downturn, levels of inequality are rising sharply and progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals is severely threatened, highlighting the impact of cascading risks. Key concerns worrying Canadians – economic instability and poverty, climate change, public health and inequality – are all global issues Canada cannot afford to ignore. The global economy also stands to benefit from increased international assistance at this crucial time. The International Monetary Fund estimates that quickly making medical solutions available globally could lead to a cumulative increase in global income of almost USD $9 trillion by 2025. To build back stronger, healthier, safer societies for us all, and to protect its previous investments in international assistance, Canada must commit to a roadmap for an adequately funded international assistance envelope.
Canada has shown strategic global leadership throughout the COVID-19 pandemic: allocating an estimated $1.2 billion of additional funding to ensure equal access to vaccines, respond to the aggravated humanitarian crises, and protect the most marginalized. Such a recognition that global solutions hold the keys to Canada’s recovery has also resonated in the latest Throne Speech and the supplementary ministerial mandate letters. Canada’s budget 2021 must demonstrate the political determination a just recovery requires. As a first step towards this budgetary increase, Canada is called to anchor the recent $1.2 billion investment into the permanent international assistance envelope for 2020/21, as part of the overall objective of allocating at least 1% of Canada’s COVID-19 response and recovery budget towards sustainable global solutions. This should translate to a $7.8 billion International Assistance Envelope (IAE) in 2021/22.
Such an approach is needed for the effective implementation of Canada’s Feminist International Assistance Policy (FIAP) and foreign policy more broadly, which strive towards a fairer, more just world in the aftermath of COVID-19. Building on the values of human rights and feminist inclusivity, Canada’s international assistance should enable local actors while prioritizing least developed countries and the most marginalized groups in their local socio-political and economic contexts. Long-term, sustainable increases to the international assistance envelope must be planned in a way that allows for reinforcing interventions that address the climate crisis and build the resilience of the global population to current and future emergencies. Predictable and sustained increases of Canada’s international assistance envelope would allow the Government, multilateral partners, and national and international civil society actors to plan more cost-effective interventions, invest in protection from and mitigation of future crises, and strengthen the social safety nets upon which we rely in every corner of this planet.
Part I: Addressing humanitarian needs and investing in threatened development investments in light of COVID-19
Recommendation 1: that the Government invest 1% of its domestic COVID response and recovery spending on new and additional ODA to protect development gains that risk being lost in this pandemic and to address the exacerbation of humanitarian crises.
This means anchoring the $1.2 billion in additional ODA committed in 2020/21 into a permanent increase, and should translate to a $7.8 billion International Assistance Envelope (IAE) in 2021/22, as an imperative step towards (i) addressing the looming global health and humanitarian catastrophe of COVID-19, (ii) enabling the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals, and (iii) re-establishing Canada’s global leadership in solving core issues affecting Canadians everywhere.
COVID-19 is exacerbating the already-existing vulnerabilities. With 88 million people pushed to extreme poverty, 270 million people likely to face famine if no actions are taken, and 1.6 billion students affected by school closures, the severity, the scale, and the complexity of the crisis cannot be overstated.
To address the current humanitarian crisis and protect development investments of the last decades, Canada must increase its annual official development assistance (ODA). COVID-19 has clearly demonstrated that our health, safety, and prosperity as Canadians are directly linked to the health, safety, and prosperity of the rest of the world. An adequately-resourced, climate-smart, risk informed sustainable recovery is a prerequisite for the recovery of Canadian trade, businesses, and livelihoods. Strengthened support is required to prevent, mitigate, and respond to crises that impact Canadians and humanity more broadly. Far from the global standard of 0.7 percent of gross national income (GNI), Canada’s contribution of $6.2 billion for 2018/2019 stood at 0.27 percent of GNI. This is the lowest average commitment to ODA as a percentage of GNI of any Canadian government in half a century, placing Canada below the average among OECD countries.
Allocating 1% of Canada’s COVID-19 response and recovery budget towards sustainable global solutions over the next two fiscal years (which still leaves the country below its international commitments) is Canada’s moral and economic imperative. This should include the immediate step of anchoring the recent $1.2 billion increase in ODA investments into the permanent international assistance envelope for 2021/22, which should translate to a $7.8 billion International Assistance Envelope (IAE) in Budget 2021. Predictable funding that reflects Canada’s fair share on the global level is vital to address COVID-19 but also to support community resilience, offering multi-purpose benefits, through investment in sustainable and effective food security, health systems, water and sanitation hygiene, education, and social safety nets. Such an investment would also put Canada on track towards 0.7 percent ODA to GNI by 2030, while contributing to the realization of the FIAP, the Sustainable Development Goals and healthier, safer, more just societies in Canada and abroad.
This recommendation reflects the 2018 Finance Committee Pre-Budget Consultation Report, the OECD peer review of Canada, and Canada’s Civil Society Partnerships Policy, which call for increased, flexible, and responsive investments.
Recommendation 2: that the Government commit to a roadmap for a predictable and adequately funded international assistance envelope by 2030, including a clear five year timetable for sustained increases, commensurate with Canada’s international commitments.
The additional $1.2 billion in investments Canada made towards international assistance this year played a significant role in ensuring global access to vaccines, addressing the aggravated humanitarian crises, and protecting the most marginalized. This increased international assistance in this fiscal year is proof that the current problems require a scaled-up investment. However, the COVID-19 crisis is not confined to this year alone – it has already left a lasting impact on all aspects of our societies – disrupting 25 years of global progress against poverty in a matter of months.
Predictable, sustained increases to Canada’s international assistance envelope are crucial to contain the pandemic and mitigate its economic repercussions. These additional resources would address rising food insecurity and malnutrition, inequitable health services and systems, heightened violence against women and children, disruptions to education, shrinking access to essential services, including sexual and reproductive health and rights, and pandemic containment in fragile contexts.
This funding would also support continued investments in multilateral efforts of the UN and the Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator, needed to advance the global response to the pandemic and ensure fast and equitable access to diagnostics, therapeutics and vaccines. These investments should encompass support for civil society as critical providers of gender-responsive essential services, ensuring the inclusion of marginalized groups affected by COVID-19.
Part II: Investing in a just recovery for a healthier, safer, and a more prosperous world
Recommendation 3: that the Government commit to contributing Canada’s fair share of the allocations foreseen under the Paris Agreement. This means allocating $1.8 billion annually as principal purpose climate finance, additional to the baseline international assistance envelope.
COVID-19 highlighted the need for strengthened preparedness mechanisms and investment in mitigation of and adaptation to complex crises and emergencies. As climate change risks exacerbate the scale and the frequency of future crises, Canada must recognize the mutually reinforcing nature of investments in climate and in development by committing its international fair share in climate finance.
Canada’s increased ODA should reflect the additional financing needed to meet it’s fair share in bilateral climate finance contributions as part of the current Paris Agreement commitment of US$100 billion in annual allocations, based on the size of Canada’s economy. This translates to Cdn$1.8 billion annually, up from Canada’s said current commitment of $800 million annually starting in 2020-21. Climate finance is a critical area of investment to mitigate and prevent the impacts of future crises. This investment should be additional to chronically underfunded humanitarian and development interventions, which can and should reinforce climate adaptation and mitigation efforts.
To ensure the effectiveness of climate finance, Canada should boost its support for context-informed and locally driven civil society initiatives addressing the often-ignored area of climate adaptation. At least 50 percent of climate finance should be targeting gender-responsive climate adaptation programs. Canada’s climate finance should aim to support countries most at risk of climate impacts and least able to adapt, including Small Island Developing States and fragile contexts. It should take advantage of a mix of delivery modalities through grants, not loans. Where possible, finance should support local action and support local civil society and women’s rights organizations.
Recommendation 4: that Canada’s ODA prioritizes the most marginalized by dedicating 50 percent of bilateral assistance to least developed countries (LDCs), low-income countries (LICs) and interventions in fragile contexts.
Canada should ensure that a predictable and significant portion of ODA targets the most vulnerable – people whose lives and livelihoods are threatened by complex crises and insufficient national capacity to address them. This would align Canada’s programming with principles of aid and development effectiveness and the global commitment to ‘leave no one behind.’
Recommendation 5: that Canada’s ODA meets the Grand Bargain commitment of allocating 25 percent of the humanitarian assistance to local organizations, with at least 15 percent specifically designated for women-led local organizations.
In line with the Grand Bargain principles, the Paris Agreement and Accra Action Plan on Aid Effectiveness, and the G7 Whistler Declaration on Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women and Girls in Humanitarian Action, Canada’s international assistance must strengthen the capacity of national actors, including civil society. Localization of humanitarian and development assistance is one of the main requisites for the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. Civil society, especially women’s organizations, are best placed to provide equitable access to social services, ensure sustainability of humanitarian and development interventions, and promote community resiliency. As the OECD report shows, only 1 percent of bilateral assistance goes directly to local civil society. None of Canada’s climate finance goes to principal purpose gender equality, leaving women’s rights organizations engaged in this area chronically underfunded.
Part III: Enabling the effectiveness of Canada’s international assistance
Recommendation 6: that the Government commit to a coherent feminist foreign policy oriented towards a more equitable and just recovery, including gender transformative international assistance, debt relief, a feminist trade agenda, and diplomacy efforts geared towards the protection of public health, human rights and civic space.
Developing countries are fraught between containing the pandemic and addressing the increasingly dire vulnerabilities of their populations. Canada’s efforts should minimize the burden of developing countries suffering from international trade interruptions and debt servicing, which is eroding public health and broader social safety net budgets.
Beyond debt suspension, Canada should promote multilateral debt cancellation, join the European Union’s initiative for Special Drawing Rights, and issue grant and not loan-based assistance. This support should ensure a) the viability of global pandemic containment measures, and b) the ability of national governments to maintain the chronically underfunded social safety nets. Trade provisions upholding human and workers’ rights, containing clear accountability mechanisms towards host communities, and advancing economic priorities of developing countries are an essential component of a more just recovery.
A coherent foreign policy agenda guided by the feminist and human rights principles must ensure the mutually reinforcing role of Canada’s trade, security, international assistance, and diplomatic interventions.
Recommendation 7: that the Government undergo a regulatory reform proposed by the Senate private Bill S-222, which would amend the outdated ‘direction and control’ regulations for Canada’s charitable sector in a way that strengthens their effectiveness and accountability.
Canada’s charities are governed by common law interpretations of an antiquated statute. The time for a thoughtful and comprehensive reform is now. Canada’s charities employ approximately 2 million Canadians, represent 8.1 percent of GDP and make up a core element of Canada’s national identity. A legislative and policy environment that enables Canadian actors to do their best possible work, benefiting Canadians, is needed.
The private Bill S-222, championed by Senator Omidvar, calls for the Income Tax Act to be updated to allow for a subsequent regulatory framework focusing on resource accountability of Canadian charitable actors, thus improving their effectiveness while keeping accountability mechanisms intact. This recommendation supports the recommendations of the Consultation Panel on the Political Activities of Charities and the mandate letters of the Ministers of Finance and National Revenue.
This submission reflects the positions of the following institutions and their members: Cooperation Canada, the Canadian Partnership for Women and Children’s Health (CanWaCH) and the Canadian Coalition on Climate Change and Development (C4D).
Together, these coalitions represent over 150 organizations working nationally and internationally through humanitarian, development, peace and security, public health, environmental protection, and social justice efforts.
This submission reflects the insight of the Canadian non-profit sector, employing 2 million Canadians, accounting for 8.5 percent of GDP and promoting Canadian interests and values at home and abroad. As we witness heightened interlinkages between global and local issues, these organizations are leading the provision of essential services, meeting the needs of the most marginalized, and contributing to a more equitable and sustainable recovery for us all.
