Posts Tagged 'Oxfam'

Land-Grabs Expropriate Poor Farmers’ Livelihoods

Guest Blog by Roy Culpeper

Chair, Coalition for Equitable Land Acquisitions and Development in Africa

March 27, 2014

Over the past decade and a half, huge swaths of land in the developing world have been wrested from the rightful owners, peasant farmers and pastoralists who typically have no formal property rights even though they and their forebears have worked the land for centuries. Often the dispossessed are moved onto marginal lands with poor access to water, undermining ...

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The Philippines Typhoon: Not So Generous Canadians?

The Philippines Typhoon: Not So Generous Canadians?

November 29, 2013

When disasters strike, Canadians respond generously. At no time has this been more evident than during large calamities such as the Asian Tsunami in 2004 and the Haiti Earthquake of 2010.

But it may come as a surprise to learn that Canadians, on average, are considerably less generous than the citizens of some other countries. The current response to Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines provides an interesting example. In the 10 days that followed the typhoon, individual Canadians donated ...

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Changing Canadian International Development by Malign Neglect

Oct. 8, 2013

It’s easy to save money and effort—don’t buy toothbrushes, toothpaste or dental floss, never take your kids to the dentist, don’t bother with fluoridation of municipal water supplies—and in a few years the kids won’t have teeth to worry about.

There is increasing evidence that a similar but stealthy malign neglect is affecting Canada’s contribution to international development, thanks to the Harper Government. Let’s look at the evidence.

On July 14, 2013, the Ottawa Citizen reported that CIDA would underspend ...

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Hey, Big Spender: Budget Cuts at CIDA

May 15, 2012

There is a curious juxtaposition between CIDA Minister Bev Oda’s sense of personal entitlement – a room at the Savoy, $1000-a-day limousines – and the ruthlessness with which she has presided over cuts to CIDA’s operational budget. It isn’t just the luxury spending on herself as compared with how many children might have been inoculated with that $1000. It seems that no amount of bad behaviour on her part will go unrewarded by the Prime Minister.

By reappointing her ...

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