Liberals are now working on Parliament Hill to try to reverse the negative view they believe the world has taken of Canadian development assistance in Harper’s government. The meeting will be attended by representatiives of NGOs, academics and development groups.

The aim will be to improve the overall aid performance. This includes increasing their overall financial contribution to aid, and tackling issues of transparency:

‘The first session will focus on finding Canada’s international assistance role in the world.  The second session will address how to strengthen the effectiveness of Canada’s aid through accountability, transparency and limits on political interference in the partnership between the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) and NGOs.“Too many times NGOS are left in the dark about this government’s decision-making, without reason or rationalization,” said Mr. McKay. “We need measures that would make government more transparent to NGOs, to ensure a more effective partnership.” ‘

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