Donor Policy in Canada - Literature review Example

Critical Book Review Introduction Donor policy in Canada is considered in international relations context. Canada develops its aid policy in terms ofnumerous programs and relates its actions with foreign help and support. There is a high degree of international aid donated to Canada. From a different perspective, Canada is considered as an important international donor. CIDAs effectiveness is measured in relation to internal structures, but governmental support of this policy often lags beyond the UK and Norway. There are many international and commercial factors influencing security issues of aid policies. CIDA has recently discarded its main advantages, such as gender equality, health issues, importance of development aid etc. Though one can argue that every organization is connected with its self-interest, we can surely claim that further discussion is related to the international aid policies, political and economic contexts. Chapter One Review The first chapter "Canada among Donors: How Does Canadian aid Compare?" by Hunter McGill deals with relations of Canada in terms of international society on the matters of help, undertakings and goals. There are two different international processes, which are used for evaluation of international relations in Canada with respect to international policies, non-aid policies and programs. Unfortunately, Canadian government is not interested in foreign help and support and shows underperformance at the international level. This claim is produced by the author of the chapter, but it is interesting for the readers to find out whether it is true or not. On the basis of two basic criteria, such as the Peer Review process of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development Assistance Committee (OECD/DAC) and the Commitment to Development Index annual rankings of the Center for Global Development (CGD) evaluation of international aid in the development of Canada is discussed further on in this chapter. Other donor states evaluate national situation in Canada and in accordance with their data they donate help (McGill). The CGDs Commitment to Development Index was established as part of an effort to rate how the public policies of twenty-two nations, all currently members of the DAC, affect the prospects and progress of developing countries. Basing on these two basic indices, it is possible to evaluate a certain degree of international aid donated to Canada. At the same time, Canada plays a role of an important international donor and it is possible to measure international help donated by the country. Canada has been developing international aid policies for a long period of time. Aid effectiveness can be measured in terms of specialized documents. Moreover, it is relevant to evaluate key strategic decisions in the main spheres of national interests of the country. For example, Canada has been always focused on reduction of levels of poverty. The Minister Oda announced on 20 May 2009 claimed about the development of effective approach to Canadian aid. He suggested to develop a global Canadian strategy, outlined the efforts of partnership with international countries. There is an evident absence of an integrated policy focused on control over Canadian aid issues. In spite of numerous attempts made by the government, the country is lacking of appropriate aid development programs. It is relevant to compare Canada with other countries. UK has invested much more than Canada into reduction of poverty. Ireland has also developed a reliable cooperation program. In comparison with these Norway and the UK, Canada is underdeveloped to deliver a holistic aid program, because there is no an integrated approach (McGill). It is appropriate to make an emphasis on self-criticism of the Canadian government in the issues of international aid development. For many centuries Canada has been focused on the countrys aid volume performance and there was a high level of fluctuation. In accordance with the author of the First Chapter: "The current global environment requires attention to more than donors development-cooperation policies if partner countries are to grow sustainably and benefit from integration with the global economic and trade system" (McGill). As a rule, the UK is differed by strengths in their policies of aid. Thus, there is an evident decline in aid programs of Canada, the country, which has been considered one of the leading countries developing aid donors programs with respect to gender equality. Unfortunately, Canada has not updated its reforms and aid policies since 1999. Canada positions its programs and policies as the country responsible for aid programs support and development. There is an evident underperformance of Canada in the sphere of aid policy development. Moreover, it should be mentioned that Canadian aid is lacking of set motives. Critics have often argued that CIDA plays a role of a policy taker and not a policy maker. Starting from 2008 Canada has been involved in several initiatives and the matter of child health and protection of socially unprotected layers of the nation were considered. The Canadian government takes an active part in the international "aid effectiveness" and the principles of effectiveness are promoted at the highest level. New government initiatives are more effective in case critics are more interested in alternative narratives. It means that Canada is lacking of a set pace of foreign aid development and further implementation. Canada provides enough help to the countries, which are being involved to a current conflict. It is claimed that: "Faced with these challenges, Canada and other donor governments have adopted "whole-of-government" approaches to bring together government departments that have something specific to contribute or might otherwise be working at cross-purposes" (McGill). There is an option for Canadian government either to cooperate with non-governmental organizations to develop foreign support and assistance or develop their own path of development. There is an opportunity for the Canadian government to work out more cross-purposes. From a more fundamental prospect, it can be claimed that the validity of labeling activities is focused on aid development assistance. Therefore, in the modern global context Canada plays a role of a donor, who should work harder to improve strategies of international aid donation and improvement. It is appropriate for Canada to work more to implement strategies and take economic measures to stimulate aid effectiveness. There are two possible ways of CIDA to improve effectiveness of its activities: the first one is to improve internal structure of the organizations and improve the lines of authority. Chapter Two Review The second chapter of the book "Improving Canadas Performance as a Bilateral Donor: Assessing the Past and Building for the Future" by Nilima Gulrajani is focused on Canada aid program. CIDA is also taken into account by the author. This chapter is mainly based on the empirical data and it is further claimed that a wide range of issues, covered in terms of this program, are relatively inefficient. On the one hand, Canada strives to occupy the position of one of the main donors in the modern global community. Cooperation with OECD/DAC is of high importance too. Thus, there is a clear integrative approach in the field of the countrys donation scenarios. The concept of "aid architecture" is widely implemented and international rather than national structures are considered. The author claims that "Donor governance structures, by contrast, underline the domestic government structures that oversee a donor nations development policy and its implementation" (Gulrajani). This claim is correlated with the mechanisms of donor policy analysis, which is based on key governance structures focused on CIDAs performance. There are some bilateral donors, who possess "executing" agencies, but, as a matter of fact, they remain dependent on a public sector. Canadas achievement can be correlated with the governance options and their contributions in the field of donor help. Canadas donor policy cedes on two basic pillars borrowed from the UK and Norway model of donation. Quantitative measurements of donors help and support are based on assessment of overall donor performance. Thus, we can see that the author of this chapter is focused on integrative and holistic approaches in the field of donor policy of Canada. This approach is justified in terms of a qualitative method of study and research. Moreover, assessment of donor performance is based on both the quality of aid inputs and the organizational processes that indirectly contribute to aid effectiveness. The development of donor policy is based on a complex public good produced by multiple players. On the basis of quality assessment it is further claimed that aid effectiveness and donor effectiveness cannot be denied. Moreover, there are many challenges in the field of donor performance. Thus, employee satisfaction is a challenging issue. On the one hand, people are ready to contribute much to donor performance, but on the other hand, many employees are dissatisfied with their donor activities (Gulrajani). Public awareness is a decisive factor in the process of development cooperation. Critical issues are evoking all the time and public support for foreign aid has been a challenging question. The society embraces many civil partners, who can ensure and prove that aid reaches its target audience. The civil society can be funded and the organizations can gain huge benefits in the result of donor policy promotion in Canada. On the example of Norway and UK it is evident that donor effectiveness of these two countries is far ahead in comparison with donor policy of Canada. Moreover, there are serious political tensions in Canada. Liberal party is opposing to the Conservative party of Canada. Canadian development policy is undermined, because there is no integrated approach in this field. It is suggested by the author that: "Both traditional and newer forms of social networking, lobbying, and public campaigning will be critical both for generating a convincing vision for Canadas foreign aid programming, and for fostering support in diverse quarters" (Gulrajani). Conclusion To sum up, we can claim that there are the main gaps in donor policy of Canada in the following aspects: firstly, there is an integrative aid policy framework and modern sector policies, which are lacking of consistent political and economic support. Another drawback of donor policy of Canada can be clarified in the following way: policy is rarely expressed explicitly. Very often this policy is improvised. Canada is lacking of reliable gender policies, which the country had before. CIDA is often criticized as not a policy maker, but rather as a policy taker. Thus, Canada does not perform its required functions in this field. There are a few initiatives of Canada, which are separated from its initial donor policy criteria. At the local level aid policy of Canada is often criticized. Therefore, it is possible to outline possible strategies in dealing with gaps in the field of aid programs development. It is relevant to focus more on political and technological factors, which are decisive ones in the field of donor programs development. Agency governance reform cannot be panacea for solving various problems in the aid programs. Nevertheless, the role of government cannot be denied as well as public participation in aid development program. It is more important to prevent potential decline of aid programs of Canada. This review of aid policy in Canada shows general drawbacks of international policies of different fields, such as a lacking of integrated approaches between local and international organs, a lack of public interest, violating of public involvement in the policy development. References Gulraj, Nilima. Improving Canadas Performance as a Bilateral Donor: Assessing the Past and Building for the Future. McGill, Hunter. Canada among Donors: How Does Canadian aid Compare? Read More