McLeod Group Blog

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

Paradis Shocker: NGOs Stunned

McLeod Group Blog, May 21, 2014

Christian Paradis, Canada’s Minister for International Development, surprised a great many people—stunned might be a better word–when he said this in an April press release:

“Canada recognizes and supports the vital role that civil society plays in reaching development objectives. Civil society engages citizens in their countries’ decision-making processes that affect them. Empowered by the fundamental rights of freedom of expression, association and assembly, civil society enables citizens to hold their governments to account, providing ...

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Categories: Blog

Tags: Aid, CCIC, Christian Paradis, CIDA, DFATD, Harper Government, Maternal Health, NGOs

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

Better Data on Foreign Aid: Not the Same as Better Transparency

Guest Blog by Brian Tomlinson

May 7, 2014

The International Aid Transparency Initiative (IATI), launched in 2008 in Accra, aimed to make information about foreign aid spending easier to access, understand and use. It was and remains a noble ambition, well worth pursing for several reasons. First and foremost, access to information on the use of public resources for development cooperation is a citizen’s right. Understanding of the trends and policies affecting allocations of public resources for aid, including resources raised from ...

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Categories: Blog

Tags: Accountability, Aid, civil society, data transparency, DFATD, International Aid Transparency Initiative, transparency

Canada and the Commonwealth: Hissy Fits, Shouting and Bullying

McLeod Group Blog, April 21, 2014

The Harper government’s announcement that it will cut $20 million over the next two years from its funding to the Commonwealth Secretariat because of human rights abuse in Sri Lanka is surely one of the most illogical things it has done in a fast-growing list.

The Prime Minister of Sri Lanka currently serves as the Chair-in-Office of the Commonwealth because Sri Lanka hosted the last Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in 2013. The Chair-in-Office is ...

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Categories: Blog

Tags: CHOGM, Commonwealth, Commonwealth Secretariat, Francophonie, human rights, Malta, Sri Lanka, Stephen Harper

Slip Sliding Away: Democracy and the Silencing of Civil Society Organizations

McLeod Group Blog, April 9, 2014

It may come as a surprise to many Canadians who follow global civil society issues to learn that Canada chairs the Community of Democracies’ Working Group on Enabling and Protecting Civil Society, a group that believes,

“An active, pluralistic civil society is an essential ingredient of a vibrant democratic political system. Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) are the primary vehicles through which people organize themselves to promote shared objectives and values and to convey their interests. ...

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Categories: Blog

Tags: Busan, Canada Revenue Agency, Christian Paradis, civil society, Community of Democracies, DFATD, Stephen Harper, Vincent Rigby

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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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McLeod Group Blog

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’

Paradis Shocker: NGOs Stunned

McLeod Group at the CCIC-CAIDP Conference May 2014

Better Data on Foreign Aid: Not the Same as Better Transparency

Canada and the Commonwealth: Hissy Fits, Shouting and Bullying

Slip Sliding Away: Democracy and the Silencing of Civil Society Organizations

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