Washington, D.C. – The Canadian government is flatlining development assistance to poor countries at a critical moment when in it should be stepping up to set new, ambitious goals for Africa, particularly in light of the upcoming G8 and G20 presidency, ONE said today.

Following the budget’s release, Oliver Buston, ONE’s European Executive Director, made the following statement:

“Freezing effective overseas aid programs at next year’s level appears to tie Canada’s hands in the run up to the G8 and G20 meeting in June, particularly because of all that Prime Minister Harper has indicated he would like to accomplish in those meetings and beyond.

“The Prime Minister recently announced a new initiative on child and maternal health, for example, a priority with great potential to save lives and transform countries. He has indicated plans to move forward with programs to ensure food security in poor countries, focus on greater accountability in foreign aid, and assist Africa in achieving the Millennium Development Goals. How this can all be accomplished without greater investments is baffling.

“After the Olympics and in the run-up to the G8 and G20, Canada is in the global spotlight like never before.  By choosing not to increase investments in countries that need it most, Canada is missing an opportunity to fortify its role as a global leader and provide much-needed moral and political leadership on these issues.”

In documents released on Thursday, the amount of development assistance specifically allotted to sub-Saharan Africa remained unclear. Additionally, a freeze in Official Development Assistance (ODA) at 2010 levels in 2011 indicates a reversal from the previous government’s commitment increase ODA by 8% per year.

The G8 Development Ministers will be meeting in Halifax to lay foundations for development proposals that will be presented at the Leaders Summit in June.  ONE looks forward to working with Prime Minister Harper and the Canadian government to lay out plans for improving child and maternal health and promoting food security in developing nations.  Because of Canada’s role as one of very few countries that has already fulfilled its 2005 pledge to double foreign assistance to Africa by 2008 – 2009, ONE also hopes to work with Canada to find ways to hold other countries accountable to their promises to the world’s poorest countries.