93.15RE Reiteration of Existing Policy: Development Assistance
[Whereas,] Rationale:
NCWC first presented this resolution to the government in 1982. If anything, the situation of women and families in some of the world’s poorest countries has worsened since then. NCWC is concerned that the April 1993 budget statement of the federal government projected cuts in foreign aid and that, in addition, it appears that funding is being redirected from some of the poorest countries to those in Eastern Europe.
[RESOLVED,] The National Council of Women of Canada urges the Government of Canada, in establishing its development aid policy, to:
- Give priority to the basic human needs of the world’s poorest people;
- Give increased support to programs to assist farmers with small land holdings, in order to increase self-reliance in food production;
- Give high priority to basic education and skill training of women;
- Continue to improve the assessment of the impact of development projects on women and families;
- Strengthen the policy of encouraging United Nations Development Program (UNDP) to support the Voluntary Fund for the UN Decade for women and their projects.