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Basic Human Needs: to
support efforts to provide primary health care, basic education, family
planning, nutrition, water and sanitation, and shelter. Canada will continue
to respond to emergencies with humanitarian assistance.
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Gender Equality: to
support the full participation of women as equal partners in the sustainable
development of their societies;
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Infrastructure Services:
to help developing countries foster reforms which promote greater private
sector and community participation in the design, delivery and financing
of infrastructure services which are an indispensable component of poverty
reduction and sustainable development;
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Human Rights, Democracy
and Good Governance: to increase respect for human rights, including
children's rights; to promote democracy and better governance; and to strengthen
both civil society and the security of the individual;
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Private Sector Development:
to foster a supportive environment for private sector activity and provide
direct assistance for private sector development in order to promote sustainable
and equitable economic growth in developing countries;
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Environment: to
help developing countries protect their environment and contribute to addressing
global and regional environmental issues.
Guidelines entitled ODA
Priorities: CIDA Operational Definitions on the activities included
within each ODA Priority have been developed, approved and distributed
throughout CIDA and to its partners. These guidelines help to clarify the
nature of programming within each priority area and also enable CIDA to
report on its disbursements and results on a priority-by-priority basis.
Policy statements on the six priorities can be found in Documents
Supporting CIDA's Development Policy Framework.
In September 2000, the Minister
also introduced
The
Social Development Priorities: A Framework for Action which emphasizes
four priority areas for development. The Framework for Action commits CIDA
to an aggressive five-year investment plan in the four priority areas of:
health and nutrition; basic education; HIV/AIDS; and, child protection.
Gender equality is considered to be an integral part of all these priority
areas.
While CIDA will continue
to work in all six priority areas outlined in Canada
and the World, the Framework for Action notes the need to strengthen
the basic human needs and gender equality components of CIDA's programming.
The Framework for Action is the first step in a longer-term plan for reorienting
Canada's development assistance program to meet the needs of the 21st Century.
2.2.2Principles
of Effective Programming
As part of its commitment
to improving the effectiveness of ODA programming, Canada
in the World provided five basic guidelines
for effective programming. Building upon these basic principles
and reflecting ongoing experience, Our
Commitment to Sustainable Development (see section
2.3) presents seven updated principles to ensure that programming is
based on:
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Acquiring and using knowledge
(knowledge of the context): Development programs and projects operate
within the social, cultural, economic, environmental, institutional and
political structures present in any community, country or region subject
to the formal and informal power structures therein. Knowledge of the local
context is vital to understanding development cooperation needs, approaches
and realistic expected results;
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Applying participatory
approaches (local
participation and ownership): Development cooperation must ensure
that recipient country beneficiaries and partners share ownership in the
process and the results. Ownership can be achieved by involving local partners
in all stages of program and project development - from concept to implementation
to evaluation;
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Applying iterative approaches:
Many projects can be viewed as experiments in applying new policies, strategies
and methods to development problems. Such projects are implemented step
by step making the necessary adjustments to reflect lessons learned and
changing circumstances.
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Capacity development:
Helping the beneficiaries of CIDA's programs increase their own ability
to help themselves is essential to ensure that benefits are sustained beyond
the life of individual projects. Thus, capacity development is a basic
purpose of the Agency's programs and projects.
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Promoting policy and program
coherence: Development challenges are addressed at many levels
(community, regional, national and international) by the developing countries,
donors and other partners. CIDA will work with Canadian, developing country
and international partners to promote consistent approaches to these development
challenges.
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Promoting donor coordination:
Shaping
the 21st Century (see section 2.4 below) presents a collective
vision, a common agenda and a key direction-setting strategy for donors
and developing countries. Building on this, CIDA will increase coordination
with other donors from the broad program to project specific levels to
ensure that policies and actions are complementary.
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Demonstrating results:
Results-Based
Management (RBM) (see section
3.3) requires CIDA to be clear about objectives, realistic about
expectations, methodical in the review of performance and flexible in making
changes, as required. It is recognized that there are many difficult challenges
in applying RBM. However, the objective in implementing RBM is to get the
best possible value for money in Agency programs and projects and to be
able to use the results information collected to improve Agency performance
while communicating development results to the Canadian public and to Parliament.
The document entitled
Effective
Programming: Technical Notes provides further details.
As well, the Strengthening
Aid Effectiveness document and Entre Nous site provide
current thinking on ways to enhance the effectiveness of Canada's international
development program through comprehensive approaches that bring together
a wide range of factors: social, economic, political, environmental and
cultural.
2.3CIDA's
Development Policy Base
A number of documents have
been prepared to provide better guidance to staff regarding the ODA mandate
and program priorities.
2.3.1CIDA's
Mandate
Our
Commitment to Sustainable Development was tabled in the House of
Commons in December 1997. It articulates CIDA's vision for self-sustaining
development and the enhancement of: our ability to acquire, share and use
knowledge; our working relationships with our partners; our ability to
learn from experience; our partners' and our own skills; the coherence
of our policies and programs; coordination among donor initiatives; and
our ability to demonstrate results.
CIDA's
Sustainable Development Strategy 2001-2003: An Agenda for Change builds
on Our Commitment to Sustainable Development and begins to address those
changes to our development cooperation program that will enable us to meet
most effectively the realities of an increasingly interdependent world.
This will serve as the Agency's business plan through which it will deliver
its mandate.
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CIDA's
Policy on Poverty Reduction (1996) sets out a common definition
of poverty reduction and a framework to guide programming in the Agency's
six program priorities. Poverty reduction addresses the causes of
deprivation and inequity. A major challenge in various regions of the world
is to make the transition from short-term relief to long-term poverty reduction
activities.Poverty reduction is one of the goals of Canada' ODA program
and requires that CIDA staff: have a better understanding of the country-specific
and localized characteristics of poverty; coordinate the use of project,
program and institutional support with policy interventions (to achieve
maximum impact); and have a clear view of CIDA's role and capabilities
in poverty reduction interventions.
2.4Shaping
the 21st Century:The Contribution of Development Cooperation
The document Shaping
the 21st Century represents the collective vision of the members
of the Development Assistance Committee of the Organization for Economic
Co-operation and Development (OECD) about the future goals and directions
of development cooperation. It was endorsed by G8 Heads of State in 1997.
Canada played a leading role in its development and supports its four main
elements:
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compacts for more effective
partnerships within recipient country driven development strategies;
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the need to strive for results
and to improve monitoring and evaluation activities;
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greater coherence in the "non-aid"
policies of industrialized countries which can have such profound effects
on developing countries; and
-
specific goals for the global
community to meet by the years 2005 or 2015 (depending on the goal) in
the key areas of poverty reduction, primary education, infant mortality,
gender equality and the environment.
2.5Partnership
The first element of Shaping
the 21st Century mentioned above is partnership. Development co-operation
must ensure that beneficiaries and partners have ownership of the development
process and results. Partnership is a key strategy to engender local ownership
of development initiatives, which in turn leads to more effective and sustainable
results. CIDA's approach to partnership is further reinforced in theAgency
Accountability Framework discussed in section
3.4.
Making any partnership work
requires committing to shared objectives and defining precise joint and
individual responsibilities. Partnership starts with shared commitments,
continues with shared control and management, and eventually leads to shared
accountability for development results.
CIDA's primary partners are,
of course, the developing countries themselves, while others include the
associations, companies, institutions and non-governmental organizations
(NGOs) with whom CIDA works. Partnership is supported by two related, but
distinct tools: consultation and participation.
2.5.1Consultation
Consultation refers primarily
to relations with Canadian stakeholders. CIDA's
Policy on Consultation with Canadian (Civil Society) Stakeholders
is primarily designed to set out the definition and principles to guide
these consultations with Canadian stakeholders. The Policy defines consultation
as being "not synonymous with either an exchange of information or with
consensus, but deliberations between two or more parties in which all have
a reasonable expectation of influencing the outcome. Consultations are
also an accountable process in that all participants are accountable for
the advice provided and the convener is accountable for providing a timely,
visible and formally acknowledged report on the outcome, with an accompanying
explanation, when appropriate". The policy contains a number of principles
to help make the consultative process effective, efficient, and mutually
beneficial for the Agency and those with whom it would consult.
For the bilateral branches,
consultations with Canadians are mandatory when developing Country/Regional
Programming Frameworks (C/RPFs) and may have value when identifying projects.
Co-ordination of CIDA's developmental activities with those of other donor
agencies is an important factor in programming effectiveness because it
increases complementarily between CIDA's initiatives and those of other
donors, improves policy and program efficiency, may leverage additional
resources for development and rationalizes the planning and administrative
burden placed on developing country partners.
2.5.2Participation
In the bilateral context,
participation refers to the direct involvement of beneficiary governments,
organizations and populations in all aspects of development initiatives.
CIDA recognizes that participation is a means of ensuring that development
is more effective by involving the stakeholders directly in the process.
The full participation of all stakeholders is critical to the identification
and planning of potential initiatives. A participatory process should help
to ensure a sense of commitment to, and ownership of, the project concepts
on the part of local partners which is essential for long-term sustainability.
While participation is a
means to effective, sustainable development, it also constitutes an end
in itself as an important aspect of capacity development which contributes
to the achievement of a more just and equitable society by involving people
in the decisions and processes which affect their lives.
There are a variety of techniques
and approaches that can be adopted to support participatory development.
The techniques used may include "consultation" at some level, but in the
development context, recipients and partners would ideally have the lead
role. At the macro level, support for recipient ownership of the development
process requires working within the developing country's own strategic
development framework. At the macro and micro levels, it means involving
local partners in all stages of program and project development and delivery,
from identification through implementation to evaluation.
Special effort should be
made to ensure that the poor and the disadvantaged within the target groups
are included in project development and subsequent project activities.
Particular attention is required to ensure that the needs and interests
of women are addressed and that they are involved in the decision making
process. For further information and references, consult with your Policy
and Planning Division.
2.5.3Costs
and Benefits of Partnership
The benefits of involving
partners include a greater knowledge base for planning, implementation
and evaluation, and greater sustainability of development activities. The
costs include the time and level of effort required at the outset of a
project and the particular skills that must be brought to bear. CIDA Performance
Review information demonstrates that there is value in the investment of
time to involve partners and recipients, but staff will need to continually
monitor the relationship between costs and benefits and make periodic adjustments
(if required) to maintain an appropriate balance.
2.6Conclusion
Canada's ODA Policy Framework
and the CIDA Development Policy Base establish the context:
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for the development of the various
Bilateral Program and Project Management Frameworks (described in Chapter
4);
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in which all bilateral programs
and projects operate; and
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against which all bilateral
programs, projects and activities will be reviewed and measured.