The International Policy Statement of Canada - Case Study Example

Running Head: International Policy ment International Policy ment Inserts His/her Introduction The International Policy Statement of Canada focuses on the development efforts Canada should try make in order to make the world a better place. The policy statement sees development as a form of security for the country. Promotion of sustainable modes of earning profits is a must in order to protect the future generations, according to the policy statement. The main aim is to forward a vision that entails the efforts of Canada towards the development of the underdeveloped world. It is now identified by the developed world that it is impossible to grow for an indefinite period of time. A holistic view of world is important for a country’s own development. Canada, it means, cannot remain oblivious to what is happening in Africa for a long time. This is why developed world is taking interest in the development of the third world countries. In this paper we will analyze the International Policy Statement of Canada. A brief summary will follow with the comments on the policy statement. Main points will be discussed and they will also be analyzed. Strengths and weaknesses of the points forwarded in the policy will be given in this paper. Criticism of the policy will also be included in the paper alongside with recommendations. Summary of International Policy Statement of Canada The policy statement starts with a brief introduction about the aims of the paper. An outline is given in general regarding the policy of Canada towards the under developed countries. Initially reasons are given as to why it is important to invest in the third world. Main poverty reduction and health related goals are identified. The introduction follows a message from the Canadian minister of internal cooperation. Overall the introduction provides a brief overview of what readers get to read in the policy statement. The current situation of the world is discussed next and what the world plans to do about it. Millennium Development Goals are discussed and how they play a role in the development of the world. All the goals set by United Nations to be achieved in 2015are discussed. The current situation of the world is elaborated including the literacy rate and other issues the third world countries are facing today. An attempt has been made to understand the basic issues of the world because it is important to know what the problems are before efforts to eradicate them can be discussed. The current challenges are world is facing today are explained. Weak governance, health crises, lack of education, gender inequality, environmental problems, and youth unemployment are the main issues identified in the paper. Through a graph regional poverty trend for the Sub Saharan region is also highlighted. The paper actually tries to focus on the issues the world is facing today and how to eradicate them. The Policy Statement of Canada towards the development of the world has to be highlighted in the paper therefore problems are first indentified and explained. All the issues discussed will also affect Canada in future like environmental issues, and this is how a justification has been made for the whole policy statement towards development of the third world. The policy paper also discusses about the ways Canada plans to take action against the above mentioned problems the world is facing. The paper proposes a global partnership for development in the third world countries. The role of Canada in the poverty reduction all over the world is discussed in the policy paper. The paper also includes a detail on the monetary contribution of the country for human development. Canada is currently given most aid to Africa in order to eradicate poverty from the continent. Iraq, Afghanistan, Haiti, and India are also major recipient countries of aid from Canada. The purpose of this detail is to inform the role Canada has played in global development. The paper also talks about how to increase the effectiveness of aid that Canada gives to the developing world. Canada has taken the initiative of increasing the cost effectiveness of aid by not proposing strict conditions on the use of aid. Countries mostly tie the aid they give with conditions such as to buy donor countries good from the aid money. This restricts the use of money and also increases the cost of the overall development process. The paper also identifies the difference in cultures and traditions of the recipient country and how Canada cannot take a generalized approach towards all of them. It is also accepted that Canada can only play a limited role in the world development process and therefore a world wide effort is needed to solve the problems developing world is facing today. It is proposed in the paper that the government of Canada will help to economically develop the countries in need. The focus of the policy is on economic emancipation rather than on increasing the dependency of the recipient country on the aid. Canadian government therefore offers in the paper access of the goods of the developing world to the markets of Canada. This can bring about a significant change in the development of the world. The policy paper then discusses in detail how it plans to deal with the five issues mentioned at the start of the paper. Promotion of good governance, health, basic education, and gender equality are the aims of Canadian aid and development program. Private sector development efforts that the country will make are also discussed in the paper. The paper also talks about its development partner. Canada, in the policy paper, has chosen 25 countries with which Canada will maintain a bilateral partnership. The focus of Canada will also be on more developed countries. The country is also looking forward to build partnership with organizations. The aim of the country is to involve the people of Canada to take part in the development process. The policy paper also includes a plan for improving the delivery system in the developing countries. Results can only be achieved if delivery modes are developed in the partner countries, and this aspect is considered in the International policy Paper of Canada. Commentary on the Proposed Policy of Canada The policy paper of Canada is not an extremely comprehensive paper elaborating on every detail of the aid and development program of Canada rather it is only entailing briefly the policy of the country regarding it development program. It is not an action plan of any sort but is a policy statement that will serve more or less as a guideline for the future actions of Canada with regards to its aid and development program. The paper has been relatively successful in communicating the main aims of the policy of Canada regarding poverty and other related issues the world is facing. A holistic approach is taken in order to combat issues the third world is currently facing. It is not possible or a single country to eradicate poverty or to promote education in developing countries. Also the whole government of Canada is to take part in the development process and not a particular department. In this way solving poverty issues are made an important consideration for the country. The policy paper has also clearly identified issues that the third world country is facing. United Nations Development Goals are used to identify the major issues of the developing countries. A proper framework is also given starting from a general approach to specific steps that Canada may take in order to improve the human development in poverty stricken regions. In this regard the paper is well written as policy is communicated to the readers. Aid effectiveness is also discussed in the policy paper. Aid that is given, at least in the form of food items, is prone to wastage (Lahiri & Raimondos-Møller, 1997). This is why avoiding wastage is extremely important when it comes to aid effectiveness, and this is discussed in the paper. Canada is also a developed country but it is starting to understand the dynamics of world business in future. Most of the population of the world is residing in the third world countries which are suffering from poverty. These people can become a market for the goods developed countries are making once they are given the resources. This is also a motivation behind giving aid although paper does not discuss this point specifically. The paper rather talks about the global commons and how they can deplete in future. Policy is paper is also proposing a debt relief program that can help third world countries to utilize their own resources and use them to eradicate poverty. This is a new step as many countries do not give aid to developing countries for covering their debts. Canada is taking a good initiative and this is one of the strengths of the policy paper. Aid should also be given to countries which have good institutions and policies (Kaufmann & Kraay, 2002). It is therefore proposed in the policy statement that Canada will be giving aid to middle income countries as well because they need little assistance to overcome their problems. Middle income countries also have infrastructure and sound policies therefore aid is more effective. Criticism of Policy Paper Alongside with the strengths of the paper, there are certain weaknesses as well. An extremely naïve assumption is taken in the policy paper. Goals like education and gender equality are not easy to attain. Moreover the local cultures of the third world countries are hostile to development of gender equality and education. In such a scenario it is impossible to achieve any of the goals set. It is also assumed that the local governments will be readily accepting all that Canada has to offer. Again this will not be the case, and there will be many leakages as well. Governments are mostly rigid and they will not allow Canada or any foreign country to change drastically the infrastructure of their country. There are also some cultural barriers that are not discussed in policy paper. The policy statement paper emphasizes on the role of gender equality in the development of a country. But it fails to realize that in some societies, gender inequality breeds in the culture. It is therefore very naïve to suggest a rampant change in the recipient country behavior towards women. There are many things that are prerequisites for achieving gender equality and they are not clearly mentioned in the policy paper. In past countries aimed to propagate their national culture and economic ideology through foreign aid (Baird & Frank, 1975). The effect of such a strategy is visible in the world today with the gap between the rich and the poor is ever increasing. The policy statement of Canada is also making the same mistake that was previously made with regards to foreign aid and assistance. Donor countries should not be interfering directly, at least initially, with the culture of recipient country. Genders are not considered equal in some cultures and this cannot be changed in a short term. More achievable goals like economic freedom, health, and education should be set that may lead to higher goals like gender equality. The goals set in the policy paper are also vague. Canada is also looking to get into partnership with 25 countries in order to help them in different walks of life. Canada is a developed world but it has limited amount of funds and it cannot make a huge difference in this many countries. The focus on many countries has made the goals of the aid and development program ambiguous. It is not possible for Canada to bring considerable change in the lives of people of the 25 countries. According to the paper Canada will attempt to do many things to help countries get back on their feet. The action plans are not discussed in the paper. 25 countries are also culturally, socially, and politically different therefore it is impossible to achieve anything with such a broad aim. The shortcomings of the policy paper of Canada are evident today because Canada has officially called off its aid to Africa (House & McGraw, 2010). Lack of accountability was given as the major reason behind calling off the aid to African countries. This is the lack of planning that can be seen the policy statement. One has no reason for doubting the intention of Canada but the goals were not set in accordance to the scope of aid and development that Canada can contribute. Recommendations Canada is currently focusing on giving aid to countries that are disaster stricken. The aid of Canada to Pakistan after floods is an example of aid to disaster stricken country (Wesse, 2010). The world is also focusing on disaster aid rather than development aid because of the less efficacy of foreign aid. The role of financial crisis of 2008 is also important in aid and development programs of international donors. The countries do not have enough funds to give to other countries therefore aid programs are shrinking. At this point in time Canada should pick a few countries that should have a similar culture, and then continue its aid and development program in those countries only. It is important today to bring considerable change in the developing world. Providing funds to disaster stricken areas is important, but it is more important to equip countries to avoid disasters. For this proper planning and focus is required, and this is why Canada should start a new aid and development program that should be focused on a few countries. Foreign assistance should also not be given through food items. This destroys the local markets and the people who are associated with it. Aid should be given to develop the infrastructure of the country. Support of the donor country is also important for developing the infrastructure of the recipient country. Specialist should be sent with the aid so that they can ensure that aid is used in the best possible manner. Development cannot be achieved on a country wide basis therefore certain regions should be selected. In these selected areas development program should be initiated. Health and food is the most important part because these two things are lacking in the third world countries. Aid should also be focused on making people economically independent. Agricultural tools should be given to people so that they can grow themselves and survive. By doing this considerable amount of positive change can be brought to the poverty stricken regions of the world. Conclusion Canada’s International Policy Statement is a policy paper that highlights and proposes the aid and development program of Canada. The paper explains the goals of Canadian policy regarding development of the third world countries. It identifies major issues and possible steps of Canada regarding those issues, but mainly it is a policy paper and does not include specific steps to counter issues. The policy paper is naïve to a certain extent because it is assuming that a considerable amount of change can be achieved through aid and development program that is proposed. The policy paper was a failure because Canada has now stopped all aid to African countries. References Canadas International Policy Statement. (2005). Canada’s International Development Agency. Retrieved on October 4, 2011 from http://www.acdi-cida.gc.ca/ips-development#al62c Frank, C. & Baird, M. (1975). Foreign aid: its speckled past and future prospects. International Organization, 29:133-167 House, B. & McGraw, D. (2010). Our shaky hand on African aid. The Globe and Mail. Retrieved on October 4, 2011 from http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/opinions/our-shaky-hand-on-african-aid/article1477458/ Kaufmann, D. & Kraay, A. (2002). Governance Indicators, Aid Allocation and Millennium Challenge Account. Social Sciences Research Network Lahiri, S. & Raimondos-Møller, P. (1997). Competition for aid and trade policy. Journal of International Economics, 43(3-4): 369-385 Weese, B. (2010). Canada among largest Pakistan aid donors. Toronto Sun. Retrieved on October 4, 2011 from http://www.torontosun.com/news/canada/2010/08/19/15077216.html Read More