Posts Tagged 'development assistance'

Mr. Harper’s Maternal and Child Health Summit, Part 5: What’s still missing?

By Rieky Stuart and Stephen Brown

The Canadian government’s recent Maternal, Newborn and Child Health (MNCH) Summit in Toronto has not lacked for cheerleaders, especially NGOs receiving funding under the MNCH initiative. Prior to the summit, only a few critical voices were cited in the media (mainly from the McLeod Group) and most journalists, such as Paul Wells, initially set aside their cynicism and were won over by the cause. However, the government alienated many by excluding the ...

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Categories: Blog

Tags: abortion, Aid, child health, contraception, development assistance, Foreign Policy, Harper Government, Maternal Health, World Bank

Mr. Harper’s Maternal and Child Health Summit, Part 4: Is it divisive to care about the 47,000 women who die yearly from unsafe abortions?

By Diana Rivington and Elizabeth McAllister

More maternal and child health funding is welcome, but the lack of focus on the human rights of women and girls is not.

In taking stock of last week’s maternal, newborn and child health summit, Prime Minister Stephen Harper gets kudos for pledging more money to achieve UN Millennium Development Goal 4, to reduce child mortality, and Goal 5, to improve maternal health. But the second target of Goal 5, ‘achieve universal access to reproductive health,’ ...

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Categories: Blog

Tags: abortion, Aid, development assistance, Harper, human rights, Maternal Health, Melinda Gates, MNCH Initiative, Muskoka Initiative, reproductive rights, Stephen Harper, World Health Organization

Mr. Harper’s Maternal and Child Health Summit, Part 3: Delusions about International Leadership

McLeod Group Blog, May 27, 2014

Once again Canada’s development cooperation policies are being driven by domestic interests, not the development outcomes and the results the government claims to be seeking. We are going it alone and indeed this time even pretending that everybody else is following our lead. In truth, maternal and child health has been both a global and Canadian priority for decades, with an accelerated focus on reproductive health and rights following the 1994 UN Population conference in ...

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Categories: Blog

Tags: abortion, Aid, development assistance, DFATD, Harper Government, Hillary Clinton, Maternal Health, Melinda Gates, Muskoka Initiative, NGOs, reproductive health, UNFPA, women

Mr. Harper’s Maternal and Child Health Summit, Part 2: The Hole in the Donut

McLeod Group Blog, May 25, 2014

The Harper government’s Muskoka Initiative is based on the fact that “women and children in developing countries are significantly more likely to die from simple, preventable causes, due to lack of proven, affordable and cost effective solutions that most Canadians take for granted,” as the Canadian government puts it.

The idea was—and is—that by committing major funding, Canada and other donor governments can significantly reduce child mortality and the number of women who die during ...

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Categories: Blog

Tags: abortion, Aid, development assistance, human rights, Maternal Health, Muskoka Initiative, reproductive rights, World Health Organization

Mr. Harper’s Maternal and Child Health Summit, Part 1: ‘Saving’ Women and Children by Targeting ‘Walking Wombs’

Guest blog by Rebecca Tiessen, University of Ottawa, May 22, 2014

Maternal health should be about women’s health before, during and after pregnancy, not just mothers. Some women who require maternal healthcare will not become mothers because fetuses and babies may not survive or because the women may not choose to raise these children. Therefore, an effective and comprehensive maternal health strategy is key. It should include services that address women’s maternal health needs, while also addressing the broader societal ...

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Categories: Blog

Tags: Aid, development assistance, gender equality, Harper Government, Maternal Health, MNCH, Muskoka Initiative, Stephen Harper, World Health Organization

McLeod Group at the CCIC-CAIDP Conference May 2014

Clan McLeod was out in force at this event, sharing the limelight with Joe Clark, Development Cooperation Minister Christian Paradis and a broad mix of Canadian development actors drawn from the memberships of the Canadian Council for International Cooperation (CCIC) and the Canadian Association of Independent Development Professionals (CAIDP).

The highlight of our participation was a session, ‘Taking Stock: the Changing Context for Development’. The event was informal, even if the room was packed. It was a set of frank and lively conversations ...

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Categories: Blog

Tags: abortion, Aid, CAIDP, CCIC, Christian Paradis, development assistance, FDI, foreign direct investment, Foreign Policy, gender, globalization, Harper Government, job creation, Maternal Health, Millennium Development Goals, partnership, poverty, Private Sector, reproductive health, technology, UNFPA

Guile, Ambiguity and the Cult of Mediocrity

January 21, 2014

On December 5, 2013, Canada’s International Development Minister (yes, there still is one) Christian Paradis spoke to the Montreal Board of Trade about the Harper Government’s approach to foreign aid. The speech was chock-full of myth, urban legend, half-truths and what can only be described as a bunch of whoppers.

Mr. Paradis began by saying, “I want us to be recognized as a world leader in poverty reduction and humanitarian assistance.” That may be what he wants, but ...

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Categories: Blog

Tags: Accountability, Aid, Christian Paradis, CIDA, development assistance, DFATD, foreign direct investment, Harper, ODA Accountability Act, predictability, Private Sector, remittances, Results, trade, transparency

WTO: Bali ‘Breakthrough’

December 17, 2013

Criticisms of foreign aid usually come around eventually to trade and investment as the ‘real’ answer for growth, development and poverty reduction. This either/or debate, unhelpful at the best of times, was momentarily drowned out early in December by a tsunami of positive news about a breakthrough agreement reached at the World Trade Organization summit in Bali.

‘We have saved the WTO,’ gushed European Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht. The agreement represents a ‘rejuvenation of the multilateral ...

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Categories: Blog

Tags: Aid, development assistance, Doha Round, India, trade, World Trade Organization

Idealism and Hubris

November 20, 2013

Nina Munk’s new book, The Idealist: Jeffrey Sachs and the Quest to End Poverty, has received a lot of attention in recent weeks, not least because it is well written, deals with an important subject, and because it goes after a very high-profile champion of development assistance.

It will be recalled that the economist, Jeff Sachs, Columbia University wunderkind, spent time in Poland and Russia at the end of the Cold War advising on the transition from communism to ...

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Categories: Blog

Tags: Africa, development assistance, Jeffery Sachs, Millennium Development Goals, millennium villages

The Harper Government’s Foreign Policy Record

October 22, 2013

There has been a lot of noise about a new realism in Canadian foreign policy—principled, not going along just to get along—and it seems a great deal of rushing around the globe by the energetic Minister of Foreign Affairs, John Baird. But what do we have to show for all of this? There has been a flurry of comment in the last few weeks about Mr Harper not addressing the United Nations General Assembly fall session, unlike many ...

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Categories: Blog

Tags: Commonwealth, development assistance, DFATD, Foreign Policy, free trade, Haiti, Harper, human rights, John Baird, Kyoto, Libya, Maternal Health, mulilateralism, Office of Religious Freedoms, Syria, United Nations

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The McLeod Group is looking for ideas, news and stories that might not appear elsewhere. We also welcome comments on our blogs and policy papers. You can get in touch either electronically at mcleodgroup12@gmail.com or by regular mail to The McLeod Group, 260 Metcalfe St., Suite 6A, Ottawa, Ontario K2P 1R6. Strict confidentiality is ensured.

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Blog

Posts Tagged 'development assistance'

Mr. Harper’s Maternal and Child Health Summit, Part 5: What’s still missing?

Mr. Harper’s Maternal and Child Health Summit, Part 4: Is it divisive to care about the 47,000 women who die yearly from unsafe abortions?

Mr. Harper’s Maternal and Child Health Summit, Part 3: Delusions about International Leadership

Mr. Harper’s Maternal and Child Health Summit, Part 2: The Hole in the Donut

Mr. Harper’s Maternal and Child Health Summit, Part 1: ‘Saving’ Women and Children by Targeting ‘Walking Wombs’

McLeod Group at the CCIC-CAIDP Conference May 2014

Guile, Ambiguity and the Cult of Mediocrity

WTO: Bali ‘Breakthrough’

Idealism and Hubris

The Harper Government’s Foreign Policy Record

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