January 9th, 2008
Embassy (Canada's Froeign Policy Weekly)
EDITORIAL
The government wants accountability and effectiveness when it comes to its international aid spending. It also wants to increase support for democracies and good governance.
If nothing else, events over the past two weeks in Kenya should serve as a warning that these two policies aren't naturally compatible.
As Queen's University professor David Donovan, one of the country's top experts on the topic, said last week, democratic development isn't just difficult, "it's messy."
When the United States invaded Iraq, those in power believed democracy would spring from the earth once Saddam Hussein's brutal and repressive regime was removed from power. Things clearly haven't worked out that way.
Using a Canadian example, the CIDA departmental performance report tabled in the House in November said the aid agency's funding for democracy development in Cambodia had taught Cambodian parliamentarians how to draft legislation and had encouraged informed debate within the parliament, "enhancing therefore freedom and democracy."
To anyone who has lived in Cambodia, the very idea that freedom and democracy in the Southeast Asian country are improving is laughable. Prime Minister Hun Sen and his Cambodian People's Party rule with an iron fist that has essentially cut out the parliamentary process. The courts are notoriously corrupt and used by the ruling party. The UN's special human rights envoy, Yash Ghai, says the situation for most Cambodians is worsening.
This apparent disconnect between CIDA's overblown, self-stated success and the reality on the ground is par for the course with the aid agency. But while the ongoing issues in Cambodia aren't surprising to many, the mass protests and killings in Kenya following the Dec. 27 national elections shocked the world because the African country was considered one of the most stable on the continent.
CIDA's website acknowledges the high-level government corruption that has "marred the government's credibility on its commitment to good governance."
"Despite political tensions, Kenya continues to progress, albeit slowly, towards an environment increasingly intolerant of corruption," it adds.
This may be true. As one social justice worker in Nairobi noted, the very fact that Kenyans rose up in response to allegations of election fraud is an indication that the desire for democracy is sinking in at the grassroots level.
What's not known is to what degree democracy suffered following the election and subsequent violence, and that's where the question of aid effectiveness and accountability arise. If a school burns down, it's lost. What is the state of democracy in a country when more than 300 people die protesting a fraudulent election?
The Canadian government will unveil a whole-of-government policy on democracy support within the next few months, which virtually guarantees even more resources will be dedicated to such activities than the $473.8 million CIDA spent last year.
Meanwhile, the government has said it wants to ensure aid effectiveness before even discussing the idea of moving towards the internationally accepted target of spending 0.7 per cent of the gross national product on aid.
The fear is the government will stick with its effectiveness and accountability mantra and yet pursue a policy that doesn't conform to the type of results-based reporting that it apparently seeks.
As a result, the worst-case scenario would see aid funding remain at current levels, or sink further away from the internationally accepted 0.7 target, as the government tinkers and toys in increasing frustration with the strategy but is unable to measure success or failure.
CIDA has already been heavily criticized over the past year from a variety of corners, and its credibility continues to erode even as its importance to Canadian foreign policy increases.
Supporting democracy and good governance is essential for successful nation-building, but if the government is serious about adopting a democracy support strategy as well as making sure the billions of dollars that Canada spends on international aid is making a difference, it had better know what it's getting itself into. A quick fix tool this is not.
If nothing else, events over the past two weeks in Kenya should serve as a warning that these two policies aren't naturally compatible.
As Queen's University professor David Donovan, one of the country's top experts on the topic, said last week, democratic development isn't just difficult, "it's messy."
When the United States invaded Iraq, those in power believed democracy would spring from the earth once Saddam Hussein's brutal and repressive regime was removed from power. Things clearly haven't worked out that way.
Using a Canadian example, the CIDA departmental performance report tabled in the House in November said the aid agency's funding for democracy development in Cambodia had taught Cambodian parliamentarians how to draft legislation and had encouraged informed debate within the parliament, "enhancing therefore freedom and democracy."
To anyone who has lived in Cambodia, the very idea that freedom and democracy in the Southeast Asian country are improving is laughable. Prime Minister Hun Sen and his Cambodian People's Party rule with an iron fist that has essentially cut out the parliamentary process. The courts are notoriously corrupt and used by the ruling party. The UN's special human rights envoy, Yash Ghai, says the situation for most Cambodians is worsening.
This apparent disconnect between CIDA's overblown, self-stated success and the reality on the ground is par for the course with the aid agency. But while the ongoing issues in Cambodia aren't surprising to many, the mass protests and killings in Kenya following the Dec. 27 national elections shocked the world because the African country was considered one of the most stable on the continent.
CIDA's website acknowledges the high-level government corruption that has "marred the government's credibility on its commitment to good governance."
"Despite political tensions, Kenya continues to progress, albeit slowly, towards an environment increasingly intolerant of corruption," it adds.
This may be true. As one social justice worker in Nairobi noted, the very fact that Kenyans rose up in response to allegations of election fraud is an indication that the desire for democracy is sinking in at the grassroots level.
What's not known is to what degree democracy suffered following the election and subsequent violence, and that's where the question of aid effectiveness and accountability arise. If a school burns down, it's lost. What is the state of democracy in a country when more than 300 people die protesting a fraudulent election?
The Canadian government will unveil a whole-of-government policy on democracy support within the next few months, which virtually guarantees even more resources will be dedicated to such activities than the $473.8 million CIDA spent last year.
Meanwhile, the government has said it wants to ensure aid effectiveness before even discussing the idea of moving towards the internationally accepted target of spending 0.7 per cent of the gross national product on aid.
The fear is the government will stick with its effectiveness and accountability mantra and yet pursue a policy that doesn't conform to the type of results-based reporting that it apparently seeks.
As a result, the worst-case scenario would see aid funding remain at current levels, or sink further away from the internationally accepted 0.7 target, as the government tinkers and toys in increasing frustration with the strategy but is unable to measure success or failure.
CIDA has already been heavily criticized over the past year from a variety of corners, and its credibility continues to erode even as its importance to Canadian foreign policy increases.
Supporting democracy and good governance is essential for successful nation-building, but if the government is serious about adopting a democracy support strategy as well as making sure the billions of dollars that Canada spends on international aid is making a difference, it had better know what it's getting itself into. A quick fix tool this is not.
3 comments:
May need our blood to build democracy! Thank for your trie UN!
That's what it is gonna take 12:41
The UN is taking care of us. Don't worry.
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