UK deals in real change while Canada shuffles the deck

 Canada’s Federal Budget announced last week held few surprises. For weeks now there have been talks about eliminating the deficit and filling gaps in needed labour skills. But for those working in international development, the announcement that the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) would become a subsidiary of the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (DFAIT) came as a shock. Even CIDA staff revealed that they learned of the change the same way I did, from a tweet sent Thursday by CBC’s Evan Solomon.

The news, unanticipated as it was, is not all bad. NGOs in Canada and concerned citizens have long advocated that international cooperation warrants a senior ministry. With this budget we got our wish. But at what cost? The government says its decision was a reflection of increased “linkages between our foreign policy, development and trade objectives.” For years, Canadian governments, liberal and conservative alike, have stated the need for greater coherence in Canada’s foreign policy. But does DFAIT’s absorption of CIDA signal an end to the clear focus on the eradication of poverty? Will the amalgamation result in a development agenda focused more on Canada’s own trade and foreign policy interests?

Not necessarily so. Crossroads International also supports public-private partnerships by leveraging the skills of Canadian citizens and through partnerships with private sector actors. This year alone Canadian coffee roasters will support more than 180 Bolivian families growing coffee to access the Canadian market. The partnership benefits all parties, but the focus is on providing opportunities for the Bolivian producers. Engaging private sector actors can be effective and yes, there are benefits to Canadians, but for my development dollar I want the focus to be on the people who need it.

With Canada’s development assistance in decline, current estimates are at just 0.25 per cent of our gross national income (GNI), we could take a page from the U.K. They displayed great leadership this week when they announced in their budget that they would be dedicating 0.7 per cent of their GNI to reduce global poverty. This makes the U.K. the first of the G8 countries to reach a globally agreed target for wealthy nations first posited by Canadian Prime Minister Lester Pearson in the 60s. This was achieved despite the threat of a triple dip recession and in an austerity budget. The U.K. knows that global development will deliver a more balanced and resilient global economy and trigger a domino effect of improved health, education, security and good governance.

Canada has been a leader in global development; remember in 2008 when our government was lauded for its efforts to untie aid? This took leadership. It put the needs interests of the poor first. That is the kind of leadership we need. Our money has helped spur economic development so people can feed their families and send their children to school. It saved lives by increasing access to health care. It has empowered women, advanced human rights and contributed to good governance around the world. It has made a real difference in the lives of millions and it is crucial that our long-term plans for development dollars not be trumped by business and diplomatic interests. Regardless of economic interests at home, this money is allocated to put an end to extreme poverty, and we cannot lose sight of its purpose. We have to stop shuffling the deck and start dealing in real change.

A busy spring can be a good thing

Here in Canada, spring is supposed to mark the beginning of the slow season, a time to ease off work and celebrate the return of the sun, flowers and outdoor recreational fun.

At Crossroads, we could be forgiven for failing to notice the end of winter. We've been intensely busy. Two days after the official start of spring, a group of soldiers overthrew the government of Mali while rebels seized territory in the country's north. For a moment, it looked like the country might spiral out of control. While things have cooled down in the capital, the coup and ongoing instability in the north have sowed fear in the hearts and minds of the people of Mali. Our partners have been working double-time to ensure their projects are able to continue and thrive, and we've been doing the same to ensure they are supported.

The spring has been busy for another reason: Our work to promote the rights of women and girls has picked up steam like never before. And we are proud of that. As the controversial deletion of the phrase “access to reproductive health services” from the final document produced at the recent RIO+20 summit suggests, the rights of women are still up for negotiation in most parts of the world. We must remain vigilant to protect and improve access to rights and sustainable livelihoods for women and girls. Here are some highlights from this spring's struggle:

• In Toronto, Crossroads volunteers, Pam Hillen and Sarah Giddens hosted a wonderfully successful cocktail fundraiser for Global Girl Power, raising more than $12,000 for programs to support women's rights in developing countries. I had the honour of speaking alongside Ntombi Nyoni, legal officer for Crossroads partner Swaziland Action Group Against Abuse, and two of Canada’s best-loved journalists, award-winning BBC reporter and Crossroads honorary patron Lyse Doucet and the CBC’s Anna Maria Tremonti. It was a truly wonderful evening and a joy to hear Lyse and Anna Maria talk about their experiences working together and how important it is to support girls and young women in the developing world so that they enjoy a brighter, more secure future.

• In Istanbul, women from across the world came together to learn, organize and speak out at the Association for Women's Rights in Development (AWID) 12th International Forum. It was an incredibly inspiring event. Representatives from 12 of our partner organizations from West and Southern Africa were in attendance, along with Canadian members of our program team, providing a rare opportunity to put out heads together, forge new relationships and share ideas for elevating the status of women in our communities.

•  In Manitoba, we delivered a presentation to provincial cabinet ministers, including Premier Greg Selinger, explaining the power of grassroots solutions to transform the work of women and rural producers in Bolivia and Niger. The message was warmly received by members of the government and the Manitoba Council for International Cooperation, who expressed their intent to uphold their support for women and girls in Africa and Latin America.

• In Halifax, long-time (and outgoing) staff member Joan Campbell succeeded in attracting record support from a new friend of Crossroads. Marjorie Lindsay made an additional gift of $50,000 to support Crossroads work with women and girls. At a very young 86, Marjorie is an inspiring and passionate supporter, who strongly believes that Canadians should be supporting women and girls both at home and internationally. Thank you Marjorie! 

While the spring officially ended on June 19, the fight to break down barriers for women and girls continues. Following on the spring's successes, we will be hosting a fundraising event on September 20 in Vancouver, with Crossroads partner, Dr. Rose Mensah-Kutin, Executive Director of Abantu for Development in Ghana, who will talk about the impact of climate change on women and what women can do to influence  climate change policy. If you expect to be in Vancouver at that time, please give us a call at 1.877.967.1611 to purchase a ticket to the event, it is not one you want to miss.

In Istanbul, a call for economic justice and equality

Against the backdrop of ancient mosques, 2,400 people from across the globe – mostly women from the East and global South – gathered at the Association for Women's Rights in Development (AWID) 12th International Forum in Istanbul, Turkey, for four days to discuss and debate how to transform economic power to advance women's rights and justice. From the opening plenary’s powerhouse of speakers to in-depth sessions designed to deepen understanding of the global economy, the message was clear – the economy is a woman's issue. Current models of economic growth have not resulted in greater freedom or equality for women. In fact, they have hurt women most. Rebecca Grynspan, United Nations Under-Secretary-General, highlighted findings from the recently released World Development Report, which this year focused on Gender and Development. She pointed out that economic growth has not resulted in increased equality, and that current economic crises are deepening inequality. These trends threaten to reverse any gains made in poverty reduction or equality over the past decade. 

While there appears to be consensus that the current economic system is not working, we heard a wide range of suggestions for alternative economic models: from the need to include 'time poverty' indicators alongside income poverty , to the need to integrate paid and unpaid work in the same indicator. There was lots of talk of the 'caring economy' and the need to measure it.  There was also an equally passionate plea from Marilyn Waring, iconic feminist, political economist and past Director of the Reserve Bank of New Zealand, to not commodify all aspects of our lives or rely on the central committee approach to come up with an alternative economic model to GDP.

On the first day of the forum, Gita Sen, Adjunct Professor in Public Health at Harvard University, called on feminists to take the time to learn about how the economy functions and to better understand economic policy and its impact on our work and our lives.  "Economics is not brain surgery – it is something we can all understand,” she said. “We cannot leave economic policy to those who do not have our interests at heart. We need to learn it and use it." And so we did. From geopolitics and the global economy to grassroots solutions, an incredibly diverse group of academics, organizers, economists, bureaucrats, non-profit leaders and philanthropists immersed themselves in four days of lively debate and discussion. We examined the role of multilateral development banks and were told powerful stories by frontline activists of successful local organizing. We heard about alternatives that empower women and increase their access to resources, such as lending circles for widows in Indonesia that present an alternative to microcredit, and indigenous organizing against land grabs in Guatemala.

We also heard about the impact of the financial crisis on funding – Official Development Assistance and European and U.S. foundation assets are all down. And according to AWID's latest FundHer Report, although everyone seems to be talking about women and girls – governments and corporations alike –  there is very little funding actually going to women and girls. Very little of what is being allocated is core funding. Organizations are more precarious than ever. The median annual income of the 740 women's organizations that responded to the FundHer survey was a paltry $20,000 U.S., and the 2010 combined income of these 740 organizations amounted to 106 million U.S. – one third of Greenpeace's annual budget. Musimbi Kanyoro, President and CEO of the Global Fund for Women, suggested that women collectively take up the call "Nothing about us without us" and that we begin to hold corporations and leaders to account. If they talk about women and girls, then they need to fund women and girls.

Some bright spots were reported. The Dutch government continues to be a model, having invested over 200 million euros in direct funding for women's organizations. Individual giving is up too. The Women Moving Millions Campaign, chaired by a Canadian, has had 150 women pledge at least $1 million to women's organizations.

The conference ended with a spectacular march down the main pedestrian shopping street in Istanbul , a perfect place to highlight the many challenges and contradictions facing women today. In a country with a growing economy, where only 25 per cent of women work outside the home, women and men from across the globe came together and, surrounded by police, laughed and danced and chanted, and demanded economic justice and equality for women.

I was fortunate to attend the conference along with a dozen Crossroads partners, an inspiring group of women from West and Southern Africa who are involved in grassroots economic development initiatives. In a day of debriefing following the conference, partners reported that they felt full, empowered and inspired and that there was a lot more work ahead of us. Indeed!

Opening Doors

Celebrate the 100th International Women’s Day by sharing your story of an inspiring woman

This year, I celebrated my 50th birthday surrounded by family and friends. Among them were dozens of women who, over the years, have had a profound influence on my life and my career. Reflecting (as one is apt to do around these life milestones) I realized these remarkable women have not only influenced my life, but have shaped the lives of many. As mothers, sisters, partners, lawyers, accountants, social workers, volunteers and friends they touch thousands of people. These women are leading organizations, supporting charities, and taking leadership roles in their communities. I am so fortunate to have them as mentors, colleagues and friends. 

One woman of great distinction in my life was not there for the birthday celebrations, my mother. And it is my mother who I want to honour this International Women’s Day.

When I was nine, my mom made the decision to leave an abusive relationship and raise five children on her own.  In 1960s and 70s Quebec there were few resources available.  Leaving meant my mother would constantly struggle to make ends meet.  Despite the enormous obstacles she faced, the long hours she put into work as well as the care of her family, my mother always found time for others. She volunteered when she could, sharing what little we had. And she remains an active volunteer to this day.  From my mother I learned about the courage, strength, resilience and generosity of women.

And perhaps it was her example that brought me to Crossroads. Today, Crossroads is supporting thousands of ordinary women who are not really so different from my mom. These are women who face enormous obstacles, struggle to earn a living and to provide a better life for their children.  Ordinary women, yes. But they are doing extraordinary things – creating viable businesses, challenging and changing laws to ensure that others can live free from violence, and educating girls so that they can live to their full potential.

At Crossroads we are opening doors for thousands of women in Bolivia and Africa.  We do this by providing small loans that enable women to start and expand small businesses and by helping establish cooperatives that enable them to transform traditional work into viable  income-generating enterprises. We are also investing in girls and young women through empowerment and leadership programs. In communities where violence against women is endemic, and where women do not enjoy even basic human rights, these programs enable women and girls to become leaders in their communities. With that confidence and those skills, these women and girls are challenging the status quo and working for change.  

Please join our Open Doors Campaign. On this 100th Anniversary of International Women’s Day, take action in support of women in Africa and Bolivia to Open Doors of opportunity.

It couldn’t be easier:

1. Register and set a personal fundraising goal
2. Think of a woman who opened doors for you. Be sure to tell “her story” on your personal page 
3. Email your friends. Ask them to make a gift to the OPEN DOORS CAMPAIGN in honour of a woman who is an inspiration to them.  
4. Change lives forever.

Your gift will enable women in some of the world’s poorest countries to earn sustainable incomes and gain independence. Thank you for your support

Reason to hope

This year I resolved to start the year in a new way. Gone are the New Year’s resolutions. Don’t get me wrong, resolutions work for me. Over the years, I ran a half marathon, I quit smoking. I signed up for that painting class I had been talking about.

But in 2010 it got a lot worse, for a lot of people. First the Haitian earthquake, then prolonged drought in Niger and devastating floods in Pakistan and many other countries. And even these horrific disasters pale in comparison to the grinding poverty that preceded them and that continues to limit the potential of 1.75 billion people, year in and year out. This year I need more than my own resolve, I need a reason to hope.

So here are my Top 10 Reasons to Hope — my review of Crossroads and the world — where, in spite of the obstacles, people came together to assert their rights to live in dignity, to earn a decent living and shape their futures.

Women are taking leadership in Togo
Togo — By January 2010 Crossroads partner GF2D had provided leadership training to more than 130 women in 36 villages. Women, like sixty-three-year-old Abla, who were emboldened by the leadership training, are finding ways to increase women’s participation in decision-making. For Abla it meant making the road to her village accessible year-round, and ensuring authorities reinstated funds that had been raised by the villagers to build a school. Another reason for optimism? GF2D founder and board member Madam Kafui Brigitte Adjamagbo Johnson became the first woman presidential candidate to stand for election in Togo.

Senegalese parliament passed the Parity Law
Senegal — In May, the Senegalese parliament voted overwhelmingly in favour of a bill that introduced absolute gender parity. At all levels of government, political parties must now present slates of candidates with equal numbers of men and women. Activists herald the new law saying it will increase the number of women members in Senegal's parliament.

Are women back on the agenda?
Canada — Sure, you might be excused if you took it the wrong way when a prominent Senator told you and your supporters to “shut the f?@# up.” But, last May when long time women’s rights activist and Senator Nancy Ruth offered that gem of political advice to an audience of women’s rights activists, it set the stage for a critical national debate and discussion on Canada’s commitment to women’s rights at home and around the globe. Central to the debate was Canada’s pledge to lead the world with a G8/G20 child and maternal health initiative.

Women in Zimbabwe finally get recognition
Zimbabwe – Whenever I feel sorry about the status of women in this country, I think of the Women’s Coalition of Zimbabwe. In the face of brutal oppression and an economic crisis, the likes of which we in Canada have never seen, they continue to work — and to raise their voices. In May, the Women’s Coalition of Zimbabwe was recognized in Canada for its steadfast promotion of women’s rights, including the passage of the groundbreaking Domestic Violence Act in 2007. The Canadian Council for International Cooperation honoured the coalition with the Betty Plewes Fund, an annual award that recognizes outstanding leadership in an African non-profit whose research and policy work advances women's rights.

UN Women launched
Global — In July, The United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women — or UN Women — was established by the Member States to accelerate progress towards gender equality and the empowerment of women. In September former Chilean president Michelle Bachelet, a formidable force, was appointed executive director of the new agency.

Fair Trade grows
Bolivia – In September with support of Crossroads, Foncresol piloted a Fair Trade loan fund. Research by Crossroaders and FONCRESOL identified three critical stages where farmers need an infusion of capital – production, post harvest, and commercialization. Yet for Fair Trade farmers, the loans required are often too large for micro finance funds and too small and too risky for traditional banks. The pilot was a decided success. Within three months, coffee was being exported to Belgium and the loan was repaid. The $50,000 Crédito Justo fund will now ensure that Fair Trade producers continue to thrive.

Seeds of hope
Niger – News from Niger has not been good. Add to political instability, a long running drought followed by extreme flooding that swept away crops and homes in many parts of the country and you have a desperate situation for people already recognized as the poorest in the world. And yet, partners continue to support people to increase their resilience – with grain banks that ensure there are seeds for future crops, by establishing cooperatives for local goods such as Shea butter and through market gardening that provides an income to members. In October, Crossroads supported Niger partners ONPHDB and ADD to participate in a regional social economy conference in Morocco. This meeting proved a vital opportunity for Nigerien partners to meet with other practitioners, enabling them to improve and expand their programs and influence future investment in the social economy in Africa.

More Girls are asserting their rights
Swaziland – In November, after a successful pilot project based on a model championed in Zimbabwe, three more girls empowerment clubs were launched in Swaziland, for a total of eight. Today more than 280 girls participate in the clubs. This year, Crossroads also provided intensive training to teachers who are leading the clubs. And the best of it? A recent hire to fill the role of assistant coordinator for the girls clubs is a former club member!

Bikes for Ballots
Ghana – In December, Ghana held district elections. Of the more than 17,000 candidates, less than eight per cent were women. But thanks in part to the support of ABANTU, three women candidates in the Upper West region are celebrating victory as District Assembly Representatives. With support from Canadian Crossroads International and YWCA Canada, ABANTU provided training and assistance to ten women candidates in the region including providing bicycles to help campaign teams get the word out.

Youth are building their futures
Mali – Last year Crossroads secured funding for a youth entrepreneurship program in Mali. That means that this year 100 youth — 50 young women and 50 young men — will work with CCI partner AJA to establish their own businesses. As participants in this program, they will build skills in business planning, receive ongoing coaching and gain access to special microcredit funds.

Why giving is good

 

Holiday catalogues galore spilled out of my paper this past weekend. I was struck by just how much stuff was on offer. Gift ideas for my sisters, my nieces, my sweetheart, my aunt and her cat! Trouble is that there is very little on offer that any of them really need and although there is a lot my nieces would say they want, they are at the age where I wouldn’t select a hairpin on their behalf. And while the kitchen implements are tempting in their holiday red, none of us have room for another appliance.

And the cat well…

So how to celebrate this season of giving? Is it by giving up? Or by giving in to the holiday hype?

I’m advocating all of the above. I plan to celebrate giving and giving up.

This year I am following Lawrence Hill’s lead. The three-time Crossroader and acclaimed writer (The Book of Negroes) started his holiday shopping by giving back to Crossroads. And so did I. I encourage you to consider making Crossroads’ Gift that keeps on giving a new part of your holiday tradition.

I have learned a lot about the power of giving at Crossroads.

Crossroads volunteers rarely talk about what they gave up to volunteer overseas. Instead they speak about what they got — how the experience changed the way they see themselves in the world and how the skills and lessons they learned changed their own lives.

The act of giving enriches them to be sure, but more than that, it enriches all of us by increasing understanding and by reducing the disparity between North and South.

Which brings me to giving up. For most volunteers the reality of working in the developing world is shocking at first. How am I supposed to build a database when there is only electricity for a few hours a day? ....Build a web site with dial up? ...I have to get permission from who before we can introduce a workshop? Crossroaders quickly learn to slow down, to seek advice, to listen well and to get creative to compensate for gross inequities and a dearth of resources. And for many, with the support of their host families and their local colleagues, they also get a glimpse of the richness of community life where relationships with people come first.

Crossroaders know it is not easy to know how to help. Many Canadians feel the same way. Just six per cent of donations made by Canadians support international development causes*. Not for lack of compassion witness the hundreds of millions of dollars raised to support victims of the Tsunami or the earthquake in Haiti. But long-term development and strategies to address the root causes of extreme poverty are often too nuanced for a fundraising pitch — hence the proliferation of goats as gifts and pictures of children in need. How can we be sure that these donations will actually make a difference in the lives of people on other side of the globe?

That is why at Crossroads we work with local partners to develop joint projects that advance their goals. We don’t set up offices or stand-alone projects overseas. Instead we invest in the people and organizations that are driving change in their own communities.

As for the hype, I am glad there is at least one time of the year to remind us that we're here for something other than ourselves. This holiday season I will be making time to be with friends and family and honouring those who inspire me half way round the world.

PS: Click here for a few goat-free shopping ideas that celebrate gifts that keep on giving.

*Highlights from 2007 Canada Survey of Giving, Volunteering and Participating Caring Canadians Involved Canadians 2009.

Words into Action

Zimbabwean Women set example in fight for global equality

Recently I read Electing to Rape: Sexual Terror in Mugabe’s Zimbabwe a report from AIDS Free World, another optimistic and ambitious initiative co-founded by former UN Envoy Stephen Lewis.  

Page after page, women recounted their harrowing experiences of rape and brutality.  I felt like I had been punched in the gut.  Women with even the most distant connections to political opposition parties were targeted.  I had to put it down.

Of course, this was not the first time I had heard stories of the terror women withstood in Zimbabwe. In November 2008, Crossroads’ women’s rights partners gathered for a meeting in Cape Town.  For Zimbabwean women it was a respite. They spoke sombrely of the violence being waged against women and openly about fears for their own safety, even as they worked tirelessly to support individual women and to advocate for an end to the violence in their country.

So when I learned that CCI partner, the Women’s Coalition of Zimbabwe, had been awarded the Canadian Council for International Cooperation’s (CCIC) Betty Plewes Award (recognizing their work in advancing women’s rights), my heart sang.  

Canadian Crossroads International accepted the awared on behalf of the Women’s Coalition of Zimbabwe and all of its members at CCIC’s annual meeting in Ottawa May 27 as the National Coordinator Netsai Mushonga was unable to secure a visa to come to Canada. READ MORE

We can learn a great deal from these brave women.  In the face of brutal oppression and an economic crisis, the likes of which we have never seen, they continue to work and to raise their voices.

And of course it is not just women in Zimbabwe who are targeted.  In many countries where we work — Swaziland, Senegal — violence against women remains pervasive and debilitating.  Around the globe, the systematic use of violence against women in an increasingly militarized world is on the rise.

That is why it is vital for those of us in the North to speak out.  Not just in defence of colleagues and friends in the South, but in defence of all women.

At the widely quoted panel discussion Where is Canada’s Leadership on Women’s Rights (held May 3 on Parliament Hill with women’s rights leaders and parliamentarians of all political stripes) long time women’s rights proponent Senator Nancy Ruth offered sage advice to women’s rights advocates:  “Shut the f*#! up” or risk a backlash. 

Her advice, while a tad dramatic, was tactical and made with the best of intentions. But it was panelist Lydia Alpizar, Executive Director of the Association for Women’s Rights in Development, simple response that stuck with me:  “I know of very few rights that have been won by keeping silent,” she said.  Alpizar warned Canadians that the apparent closing of democratic space to openly debate issues and advocate for rights in this country could also have serious repercussions for communities in the South, still struggling to define those spaces.

As has Alpizar noted “there are no magic bullets to achieve gender equality and women’s rights.”  Interventions such as gender mainstreaming, micro-finance and quotas for women in political systems are good ideas for which women have fought.  But “none of these either individually or together will necessarily empower women.”

So then what works?  What should be our role? 

The answer lies not just in what programs we initiate or support, but in how we do it. Our role is not to prescribe solutions to women in the South, but rather to work with them, to invest in them, to advocate for their rights and ours.  From the grassroots, as illustrated by the members of the Women’s Coalition of Zimbabwe to national and international organizations, women and women’s groups are the driving forces in the fight for equality.  They are developing and implementing strategies to enable women to: live free from violence; increase their economic autonomy; assert their sexual and reproductive rights; and participate as equals in broad range of political spaces where decisions that affect their lives and communities are made.

Immediately following the discussion on Parliament Hill, our own government faced a barrage of criticism when it was revealed that more than 14 feminist organizations, including our colleagues at Match International, had recently lost federal funding and would be forced to close. Speaking in the House of Commons in defence of government cuts, the Hon. John Baird said “Mr. Speaker, let me be very clear. This government is giving a record amount of funding to support women’s groups. We do have one big criteria, we want less talk and more action.”

In my experience working in women’s rights in Canada and internationally for nearly 20 years, the latter is not achieved without the former.  Rights come first, programs to mitigate the impact of inequity follow. It is difficult to isolate the women’s organizations who deliver quality services, from those who demanded them in the first place.

The Women’s Coalition of Zimbabwe is case in point. “During the violence we began realizing that we had to do much more in terms of peace building and in terms of intervening in the politics of the country,” Mushonga said in an interview from Zimbabwe. Women are particularly well positioned to forward positive social change, she said. While some men are still in “the fighting mood” women are invested in development and peace. Rather than leaving the public agenda to the men, women are staking out space to have their say.

While governments may be slow to recognize this critical relationship, it is meaningful to have a Canadian award that recognizes it.

Rethinking Development Effectiveness

I met a Crossroader a few days ago and she got me thinking.

Marina Salazar is a 32 year old volunteer from Cochabamba Bolivia. She works with Foncresol, a long standing Crossroads partner, focused on decreasing poverty through the provision of small business loans for some of Bolivia’s poorest people.

Marina came to Canada to work with Haida Gwaii Community Futures and the First Nation’s people on Haida Gwaii. Marina’s country is the poorest country in South America. The vast majority of its people live on less than $2 a day, so the goal she set for her placement might surprise you.

Marina came to Canada to help First Nations people use communal banks to work their way out of poverty.

It’s something she knows a bit about. Marina helps people, mostly women, to start small businesses. A key strategy for this at Foncresol has been communal banks. In these banks, the vast majority are women, as most women cannot secure loans from traditional lenders. Their only collateral is their trust in each other. “It isn’t just an economic strategy,” says Marina. “People have a chance to take leadership. It is a democracy. They decide who will be president, treasurer, spokesperson and they are accountable and if someone leaves the bank they are responsible for the payments.”

Over the last 11years, Crossroads has supported Foncresol in numerous ways. Canadian volunteers have supported risk analysis and market research as well as more mundane aspects of the work, such as systems development. CCI also helped expand Foncresol’s work with women by securing funds to expand microcredit loans for women. Foncresol now supports more than 200 communal banks. Marina told me of women who are increasingly able to support their families, to send their children to school and make decisions about their own lives. And no matter what happens, it seems, they repay their debt.

Marina’s journey to Canada was a long one. She tells me it is quite unusual in Bolivia for a woman to hold a position like hers. “The opportunity was very interesting for me and I thought it would be almost impossible to get. I thought, I am Bolivian, I don’t speak the language. The people in the North are smart. What can I teach them? … It was very scary to me. My boss said I had to win this position and we worked for four years. The project identified was to start communal banks with Community Futures in First Nations communities.”

“The First Nations people have so many problems, economic, social. But they want to start something; they don’t want to live as they are now with drugs and alcohol. Our clients in Bolivia want the same things. Around the world I think the dreams are the same. They want to wake up with security, with a job and not having to worry that tomorrow they will have food for their children. When I walked the streets in Haida Gwaii people would greet me, people knew I was coming to help start communal banks, it was very emotional for me that people trusted me.

“The experience was more than I was expecting. I understand that it is not only people in my country that need help. In different [ways] and forms… I can help people through my engagement. It was the best experience in all my life. This partnership has made me more committed to Foncresol. I think I will die with Foncresol.”

All this got me thinking. In the same week I met Marina, I provided opening remarks at The Open Forum on CSO Development Effectiveness, one in a series of consultations taking place in countries around the world. In honesty, I have spent considerable time in board rooms talking about aid effectiveness, but as this forum highlighted, the real challenge is how we increase development effectiveness.

The world has changed. Yes, tremendous disparity remains between North and South. Yet in many places, Bolivia among them, a strong civil society has emerged. And these increasingly powerful development actors are not without criticism of their peers to the north.

As northern CSOs we now contribute up to $25 billion a year to development efforts, with five of the largest international NGO families alone bringing together a total of $6 billion in development resources. That’s more than some governments.

We are vociferously critical of global leaders and donors’ failure to respond to changing realities of developing nations, but only recently have we formalized a critical look at ourselves. Are we, as northern CSOs, living the values of social solidarity, participation, transparency and respect? Are we really taking direction from local actors and priorities? How effective are we in contributing to development that empowers poor and marginalized populations and enables women to claim their rights?

Fellow Canadian Bernard Wood, the team leader for the international evaluation of the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness, has said “all development is indigenous, so that outsiders who wish to help must first and always work to empower and support. If we try to dictate or prescribe, we will never bring durable benefits.”

I think at Crossroads that is something we have always understood. It might be too early to judge if a fledging communal bank in Haida Gwaii will better the lives of the First Nations who have embraced it (although Marina is convinced it will), but we know our partnership with Foncresol is improving the lives of women in Bolivia. Marina, for one, now sees issues confronting her people and the people in Haida Gwaii as global issues and that she has something to contribute.

Australian aboriginal activist and educator, Lila Watson, once said, "If you have come here to help me, you are wasting your time..... But if you have come because your liberation is bound up with mine, then let us work together."

This is the heart of Crossroads approach. Although separated by unequal access to resources, cultural and linguistic barriers, we are inextricably linked in a common human cause. And everyday, we work to break down these barriers and build our common future.

How to help

Canadians outpouring of support to Haiti challenges our thinking on how to avert disaster for the world’s poor.

When new broke of the massive earthquake in Haiti, Canadians across the country asked themselves, How can we help?

The response was swift and impressive. As of January 25, Canadians donated than $80-million in support of relief and reconstruction. Within 24 hours the government had committed $5 million in aid and within 48 hours, more than $80 million was promised with an additional commitment to match all individual donations. Rescue teams, the disaster assistance response team (DART) and military personal were also dispatched. Less than two weeks after the quake hit, Canada convened a meeting of foreign ministers and key multilateral players in Montreal, to prepare for a spring leaders conference on the reconstruction of Haiti.

Canada’s longstanding relationship with Haiti — they are our second largest aid recipient after Afghanistan — eased our ability to help. Montreal has one of the biggest concentrations of Haitian Diaspora. Many Canadian relief and development organizations have worked there for decades. We know the country and its people.

We can be proud of the Canadian response. Canadians care. But increasingly Canadians are also asking, really, how can we help?

As a January Globe and Mail editorial noted, “With millions of dollars pledged and more than 10,000 NGOs operating in Haiti there is no shortage of good intentions.” Newspaper editorialists and ordinary Canadians are striving to make sense of what disasters of this magnitude can teach us about development for the future.

We know that in natural disasters, it is the poor and disenfranchised who suffer most brutally. Among the poor it is most often women and children who bear the brunt.

This disaster is all the more acute, because of the chronic and desperate poverty in which most Haitians live. As Peter Hallward in the Guardian UK noted poverty and powerlessness account for the full scale horror in Haiti. Earning less than $2 per day, ordinary Haitians have no ability to arm themselves against disaster with defences like earthquake resistant homes.

Haitian poverty, like poverty in countries where CCI works in West Africa, Southern Africa and South America, is no accident. It is the result decades of exploitation and oppression by wealthier nations. A history that continues to present day with global trade rules that favour rich nations and their producers while devastating national economies of developing countries; crippling debt obligations that siphon off resources that could be used to build sound infrastructure and services and impose conditionalities that force governments to curtail essential investments in public services like heath and education.

While it is critical that we support agencies on the ground striving to meet immediate urgent needs, we also need to look at how are our official development assistance and foreign policy, now and in years to come, can build and strengthen local resilience.

An important way to mitigate disasters like the Haitian earthquake is to invest in the resilience of people and their institutions. Reconstruction efforts need to support an independent and sovereign government that ensures basic human rights are met and that citizens are empowered to demand their rights.

The situation in Haiti and other fragile states will undoubtedly be discussed by G8 and G20 leaders when they meet in Canada later this year. Canadian civil society organizations, including Canadian Crossroads International, are hard at work trying to meet with government leaders to ensure past commitments are met, to renew and strengthen poverty-reduction strategies, with special emphasis on investment in programs for women and children. We are seeking government commitments to provide assistance to low-income countries coping with the effects of climate change and to instigate meaningful global financial reform to help all countries recover from the economic crisis. On Tuesday it seemed that the message was getting through. In an editorial, January 26, the Prime Minister acknowledged “it should not take a natural disaster to turn our attention to the less fortunate and that the world's poor have been hit hardest by the global economic downturn and in these difficult times we must address their pressing needs.” He stated that as president of the G8 in 2010, Canada will champion a major initiative to improve the health of women and children in the world's poorest regions.

Canada's commitment to playing a lead role in a pair of major new international aid projects is most welcome, but it has some Canadians asking where is the money? Currently Canada is giving only 0.32% of our national income in development aid. That's less than half of the point seven per cent (0.7%) we keep promising to give. In upcoming international summits and in Canada’s own upcoming budget announcement there is an opportunity to make good on past commitments and outline our vision for the future. Add your voice to these efforts and let our parliamentarians know that Canadians care deeply about these issues and believe that Canada can and should play a leadership role in developing and implementing the kinds of policies that will strengthen human rights and relieve the suffering of billions living in poverty.  http://www.makepovertyhistory.ca/en/set-agenda-action-g8

A Heated Debate

As support for global deal cools, Canadians need to hold leaders feet to the fire


Recently, I found myself sitting on the sidelines of a heated debate on climate change.

This was not a clash between scientists and climate change deniers. It was a group of environmental activists and development workers arguing the merits of the terms “climate change” versus “global warming.” It was a war of words, both sides desperate to ensure Canadians would understand the peril we face — hoping, beyond hope, that the right words would inspire action.

From where I sit, the peril could not be clearer. In my eight years with Canadian Crossroads International (CCI), I have witnessed the impact of drought and floods on Southern partners and the communities they serve.

In Swaziland, many go hungry. Nearly half the population is reliant on food aid. Seventy per cent of the population is engaged in subsistence farming and food production has been steadily falling for the past decade. Erratic weather, soil depletion and drought persist as problems for today and the future.

Niger, too, has struggled with food security due to uneven and unpredictable rainfall that has only worsened in recent years. CCI supports local partners’ work with subsistence farmers to increase their income and food security through adaptation strategies such as community grain banks. Here women like Fati Hassan reap the benefit. “Before, it was us the women who travelled. We travelled a distance of nine kilometres to get food and now it is close by.”

In Niger and Swaziland, as in many poor countries, women are disproportionately affected. Globally women produce up to 90 per cent of the rural poor’s food. They gather food, work the land and walk long distances seeking water and other staples. Because of their poverty they are at greater risk of violence and disease — AIDS, cholera and malaria. Women are charged with the use and preservation of the land, but exert little control of natural resources and are barred from owning property in many places.

I could go on. In recent interviews with Southern partners, each partner — no matter the focus of their work — raised the issue of climate change as a key challenge. Poor communities around the world bear little responsibility for the degradation caused by excessive carbon emissions, but they feel its impact most harshly. Combined with the current food and economic crises, climate change threatens to undo decades of development gains.

At Crossroads we’re in the business of poverty reduction. We are working with local partners to increase their resilience and capacity to adapt. We are supporting rural producers. And we are increasing women’s participation in decision-making in their communities and in government. We are not experts in climate change, but we do know that we can do something to reverse this terrible trend. It is just too important to sit on the sidelines. We can all do something.

We can change our own behaviour and consumption here in Canada to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. We can support poor countries disproportionately affected with funding for mitigation and adaptation. We can press for women’s increased political representation and access to and control over resources.

Perhaps most of all we can join with others to raise our voices. As headlines declare that global leaders have abandoned concrete goals for the UN summit in Copenhagen, hope is fading. It’s time to tell our leaders that we expect more from them.

Collaboration across borders to address global problems is hard. We get that. But reaching an agreement that is fair, ambitious and legally binding is within our grasp. We need our leaders to lead at Copenhagen.

www.cciorg.ca

A Cause for the Century

A Cause for the Century


If the world invests in women and girls, women and girls will take care of the world, so said American activist Jane Roberts. The connection between women’s human rights, gender equality and social and economic development is well documented.

At Crossroads we’ve seen this first hand — from West African women who have moved from subsistence to making a living wage through CCI supported cooperatives producing shea butter, soap and textiles, to members of CCI supported Bolivian communal banks where women like Martha Ali reflect “my children study with what I earn.” The investment is modest, but the difference made in lives of women and their families is almost incalculable. Five years ago, Canadian Crossroads International focused its resources in part to strengthen women’s rights. It became clear that to achieve our goals, from building local economies, reducing poverty and to fighting AIDS a common thread linked our strategies — the empowerment of women.
Now after years of talking about of gender equality, some are calling the fight for the rights of women and girls, the cause of the century.

On September 14, 2009 the United Nations passed a resolution to establish a powerful new UN agency to advance the rights of women. A week later Plan International released a report that makes a convincing case that investment in girls will break the cycle of intergenerational poverty and failure to do so could cost the world poorest countries billions in economic growth.

Yet, over the last decade, funding for women’s organizations has decreased in quality and quantity. The Association for Women’s Rights in Development (AWID), which tracks funding for women’s rights, attributes this to a global trend of “gender mainstreaming” which has resulted in diluting specific objectives on women’s equality amid broader development objectives.

In Canada too, it is increasingly evident that despite our strong policy guidelines, both the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) and many Canadian Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) working internationally have reduced commitments to gender equality programming over the last decade. A number of organizations, Canadian Crossroads International among them, analyzed CIDA’s recent evaluation of its policy on gender equality between 1998 and 2005 in a report entitled Strengthening Canada’s International Leadership in the Promotion of Gender Equality. While the organizations were impressed with the rigour of the evaluation, and in fact whole heartedly support the policy, it is clear that increased investment — both in the way of funds for women gender equality specific programming and in political will — is required.

And the timing might be right. Globally, momentum is growing. In 2008 the Dutch government launched the MDG3 Fund in part to make up for a dramatic decrease in funding for women’s programs. That same year NIKE foundation launched the influential girl effect campaign backed up by more than $100-million in financial support for girls programs. This year, Spain kick started UNIFEM’s Fund for Gender Equality with $65-million in funding. And last week, Canada’s Belinda Stronach announced that the Belinda Stronach Foundation, with the Clinton Global Initiative, will bring together leading national and international organizations with a goal of elevating the advancement of girls and women to the G8's agenda.

The case for support is strong. According to the World Bank, when 10 percent more girls go to secondary school, the country’s economy grows by three per cent according to the World Bank. And when a girl earns income, she reinvests 90 per cent in her family.

This is a bandwagon worth boarding. Already many Canadian and International organizations are redirecting resources to invest in women and girls. Canada should do the same. As host of the G20 and the G8 in June 2010 Canada has unprecedented opportunity to reassert itself as a leader in human rights. The lives of more than 500-million girls and young women depend on it.

Learn more about how your gift to Canadian Crossroads International’s women’s right projects can make a world of difference.