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For 40 years the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) has led Canada's efforts to reduce global poverty. Real progress has been achieved in improving the living conditions of millions of people through better access to health care, quality education, increased income, healthier environment, as well as the protection of human rights and the promotion of equality between women and men. Still, more can be done, and it can be done more effectively. The government is committed to making our development programs more focused, efficient and accountable.

This report provides information on how taxpayers' dollars are being spent.

In 2007-2008, CIDA focused on the government's priorities and steadfast in delivering on the government's commitments. The Agency delivered Canada's largest ever bilateral aid program in Afghanistan. As partners, with the Afghan government in the five-year Afghanistan Compact signed in 2006, Canada is among the top five donors of 50 countries contributing to supporting the Afghan people.

Canada has also responded to the emerging food crisis. In 2007, Canada's contribution to the World Food Programme and the Canadian Foodgrains Bank is helping to feed more than 5 million vulnerable people. Canada is now the second highest ranked donor country to the World Food Programme.

Canada has a time-honoured tradition of helping those less fortunate. We must ensure that our support is making a difference in the lives of those living in poverty. I am pleased to present this report on the performance of CIDA.

The Honourable Beverley J. Oda, P.C., M.P
Minister of International Cooperation

1.2 Management representation statement

I submit for tabling in Parliament the 2007-2008 Departmental Performance Report for the Canadian International Development Agency. The document was based on the reporting principles contained in the Guide to the Preparation of Part III of the 2008-2009 Estimates and, in particular, the Reports on Plans and Priorities and the Departmental Performance Reports. This document: adheres to the specific reporting requirements outlined in Treasury Board Secretariat guidelines; is based on the Agency's Strategic Outcomes and Program Activity Architecture, which were approved by the Treasury Board; presents consistent, comprehensive, balanced, and reliable information; provides a basis of accountability for the results achieved with the resources and authorities entrusted to the Agency; and reports finances based on approved numbers from the Estimates and the Public Accounts of Canada. Margaret Biggs President Canadian International Development Agency

1.3 Departmental performance

Performance context

Poverty reduction has always been the ultimate goal of Canada's aid program. From its earliest days, Canada's development assistance has targeted poor and marginalized countries. Over the years, Canada's approach to international development has moved in step with major international reforms in development practice. Our approach strives to reflect lessons learned and new approaches to development cooperation.

Although Canadians are proud of their aid program, they question its effectiveness. The Government of Canada announced its major commitment to aid effectiveness in the 2007 budget through a three-point program to s trengthen the focus, improve the efficiency, and increase the accountability of Canada's aid program. In line with this direction, CIDA focuses on four departmental priorities: increased strategic focus of programming, strengthened program delivery, effective use of the Agency's resources, and clear accountability for results. Recognizing that it can go only so far on its own to achieve its goals of greater focus and effectiveness, Canada is taking part in the international dialogue based on the 2005 Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness to achieve increased accountability, cohesion, co-ordination, and focus.

Overall, progress in international development is encouraging. Millions of lives are being saved. For example, more children are being protected against preventable or treatable diseases. Many more lives are being improved through increased income, as well as the promotion and protection of human rights. Additionally, many people now have better access to clean water, basic education, and basic health services. This has resulted in improvements in many development indicators such as infant mortality and literacy, building a stronger foundation for a better future. CIDA significantly contributes to these results through its support.

The Agency's aid programs are centered on the needs and areas where Canada can add value. It continues to bring Canada's expertise to the developing world in democratic governance, equality between women and men, private sector development, the environment, health, and basic education. This approach helps developing nations become self-sufficient and better able to provide basic services to their people.

Risks and challenges

CIDA works in some of the world's riskiest environments. These are places where there is extreme poverty, war and conflict, environmental deterioration, social and economic instability, famine, infectious diseases, and natural disasters. The Agency operates according to a solid strategy to reduce development, operational, financial, and reputational risks. This is backed by guidance, training, and tools on how to evaluate and manage risks when delivering Canadian assistance. This support helps reduce uncertainty for program managers. They can then make informed decisions and take responsible, appropriate risks to achieve the best development results. This also contributes to greater accountability.

In 2007-2008, the difficulty in bringing peace and stability to fragile states (for example, Afghanistan, Haiti, Sudan, and West Bank / Gaza) continued to be an important factor influencing development work. Disaster risk reduction was also an important element in development programming. For example, Canada supports the readiness of governments in the Caribbean to respond to natural disasters. In February 2007, Canada contributed $20 million to the Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility. This World Bank program provides governments with insurance against government losses (for example, essential public services) caused by catastrophic hurricanes and earthquakes. In July 2007, Canada began supporting a $20-million Caribbean regional disaster risk-management program.

In 2007-2008, CIDA also reinforced its capacity to manage financial risk. Key tools have been developed. These tools include a policy on assessing financial risks, especially when using a developing country's own systems, reporting frameworks, and training.

Lessons learned in 2007-2008

Canada's role in Afghanistan - The change in Canada's participation in Afghanistan has begun. It is based on the advice of the Independent Panel on Canada's Future Role in Afghanistan and the House of Commons motion of March 13, 2008, which called for a stronger alignment of diplomatic, civil, and military activities among government partners. This new phase will focus on stabilization and state-building efforts in the province of Kandahar. The Canadian government announced six priorities on June 10, 2008.¹ CIDA is involved in implementing three of these priorities:

1. strengthening Afghan institutional capacity to deliver basic services and promote economic growth, thereby enhancing the confidence of Kandaharis in their government;
2. providing humanitarian assistance to increase people's capacity to deal with crises; and
3. helping advance Afghanistan's capacity for democratic governance by contributing to effective, accountable public institutions and electoral processes.

   Our partners, meantime, are involved in these three priorities:

4. enabling the Afghan National Security Forces in Kandahar to sustain a more secure environment and to promote law and order;
5. enhancing border security through facilitating bilateral dialogue between Afghan and Pakistani authorities; and
6. helping Afghan-led efforts toward political reconciliation.

More details are provided in the report card on Afghanistan in Section 2.

Peer review of Canada's development program - Every five years, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) reviews Canada's aid program. The October 2007 review² concluded with a positive outcome, and provided useful direction to further improve Canada's aid program. In many ways, it confirmed the path the Government of Canada had already chosen for itself.

The review acknowledges the progress made in a number of areas, such as the whole-of-government approach to working with fragile states, humanitarian action, an increased focus in Africa, and growth in the aid budget. The OECD recommended that Canada:

• adopt clear objectives for development assistance;
• focus on fewer country partners;
• distribute multilateral aid more strategically;
• reinforce the implementation of the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness;
• delegate greater authority to its employees working in the field; and
• carry out its transformation initiative.

These recommendations were taken into account in CIDA's 2008-2009 Report on Plans and Priorities.

Survey on monitoring the Paris Declaration - The OECD released its report on the 2008 survey on monitoring the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness. The survey demonstrates CIDA's continued commitment to aid effectiveness:

• Marked progress has been made to untie our Official Development Assistance (ODA) (74 percent)³.
• Improvements have been seen in harmonization with other donors based on common arrangements mostly due to the Agency's participation in program-based approaches.

Areas for further improvement for CIDA include:

• increasing the amount of coordinated missions and shared analytical work with other donors; and
• untying aid.

Because many of the pre-conditions needed for fully implementing the Paris Declaration are now in place, CIDA and other donors can make real progress on its implementation over the medium term.

Audits and evaluations - Audits completed in 2007-2008⁴ demonstrated that CIDA officers applied the required financial controls and made careful evaluations (due diligence) when selecting and approving grants, contributions, or contracts. The audits concluded that CIDA was using its resources effectively, and that it complied with legislation and government policies or procedures. Areas that were not compliant were usually minor and local. Action was taken to correct each situation, such as those identified in the example of the Mozambique Country Program audit below.

The audit of the Mozambique Country Program determined that key financial and management controls were generally operating effectively. The program complies with relevant legislation and policies. A clearly defined accountability framework is in place. Processes existed for identifying, updating, and managing operational risks and for developing appropriate strategies to reduce harmful effects. Program and project results were monitored, measured, and reported to management so that a manager could make informed decisions. Written procedures for verifying accounts need to be improved. As well, the Treasury Board Policy on Transfer Payments regarding eligible aid expenditures needs to be clearly interpreted.

1.4 Summary information

Our aid program benefits Canadians in four broad ways: it plays an important role in Canada's global reach and influence, provides a concrete expression of values that Canadians cherish, builds long-term relationships in selected economies around the world, and helps make the world more secure for Canadians.

Strategic outcomes and Program Activity Architecture

The goal of Canada's aid program is to reduce poverty, promote human rights, and increase sustainable development in developing countries. It flows from the two long-term results, or strategic outcomes (see below), to which the Agency contributes by managing the aid program according to five main program activities (see below) . Each program activity is defined in Section 2.

Fiscal year 2007-2008 marks the implementation of CIDA's new Program Activity Architecture presented above. This change in reporting frameworks does, however, lead to difficulty in providing a comparative analysis of spending between 2007-2008 and 2007-2008. For example, an amount of $75 million was planned under the Selected Countries and Regions program activity for private sector development in 2007-2008, however, related expenditures are presented under the Multilateral, International and Canadian Institutions program activity. Nevertheless, some key factors explaining these variances include the increased priority in the Afghanistan program and delayed spending caused by the realignment of programming within the Countries of concentration and Selected countries and regions program activities. Delayed spending also resulted in higher-than-expected expenditures under the Multilateral, international and Canadian institutions program activity.

The increase in human resources (in full-time equivalents) is due to incremental resources in the Afghanistan program; the hiring of personnel instead of contracting consultants for information management and technology services; and increased human resources management, and financial and contractual resources to strengthen management capacity.

Financial resources
Planned spending	Total authorities	Actual spending
$3,069,354,000	$3,326,658,788	$3,254,420,910
Human resources (in full-time equivalents)
Planned	Actual	Difference
1,676	1,791	115

 

		2007- 2008
Program activity	Expected results	Planned spending	Actual spending
Strategic outcome: Increased achievement of development goals consistent with Canadian foreign policy objectives
Countries of concentration	Enhanced capacity of countries of concentration to achieve development goals	$826,205,000	$758,885,648
Fragile states and countries experiencing humanitarian crisis	Reduced vulnerability of crisis-affected people	$618,242,000	$716,436,642
	Restored capacity of public institutions and civil society
Selected countries and regions	Enhanced capacity of selected countries and regions to achieve stability and/or development goals	$631,244,000	$490,116,537
	Contribution to international interests of the Government of Canada
Multilateral, international and Canadian institutions	Enhanced capacity and effectiveness of multilateral institutions and Canadian/international organizations in achieving development goals	$919,004,000	$1,235,072,645
Strategic outcome: Sustained support and informed action by Canadians in international development
Engaging Canadian citizens	Increased awareness, deepened understanding and greater engagement of Canadians with respect to international development issues	$74,659,000*	$53,909,438

* Of this amount, $40 million was for institutional capacity building in democratic governance.

Allocated across program activities
Corporate services*	Provide support services to CIDA programming

* Financial and human resource costs for corporate services are distributed to the other programs activities, as required by the Treasury Board Secretariat.

1.5 Progress toward strategic outcomes and priorities

CIDA's progress toward achieving its two strategic outcomes and four departmental priorities is discussed below.

STRATEGIC OUTCOME	SELECTED PERFORMANCE INDICATORS
Increased achievement of development goals consistent with Canadian foreign policy objectives	Progress toward the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) Progress toward democratic governance
Departmental priorities	Type	Performance status5
Increased strategic focus of programming	Ongoing	Good progress made
Deliverable 1 - Target resources in critical countries and regions.		Met
Deliverable 2 - Focus on high-impact sectors.		Met
Strengthened program delivery	Ongoing	Progress made
Deliverable 3 - Recognize the role of civil society in aid effectiveness.		Met
Deliverable 4 - Renew and strengthen CIDA's partnerships with Canadian partners.		Met
Deliverable 5 - Assess the effectiveness and relevance of key multilateral institutions and develop an investment strategy.		Partially met
Effective use of Agency resources	Ongoing	Good progress made
Deliverables 6 and 7 - Invest in a sustainable workforce; support public service renewal.		Met
Clear accountability for results	Ongoing	Good progress made
Deliverable 8 - Implement the Federal Accountability Act Action Plan.		Met

In today's development context, achieving this strategic outcome requires complex and many-sided approaches. For example, CIDA shares accountability with its partners, and to a larger extent, with the beneficiaries themselves. Partners include developing countries organizations and institutions; multilateral, Canadian, and international institutions; the private sector; non-governmental organizations (NGOs); academia; and other government departments. This shared accountability makes it challenging to demonstrate CIDA's direct contribution to development results, and impossible to attribute a specific share of the results to this contribution. As well, many activities and programs are needed to foster the necessary environment so that partner countries can achieve results. For example, more and more donors, including Canada, are focusing on capacity building so that countries and communities can maintain the results they have achieved over the long term.

The progress reported below focuses on three strategic areas: A) progress made toward development goals; B) progress made toward democratic governance; and C) progress made toward departmental priorities.

The MDGs aim to: eradicate extreme poverty and hunger achieve universal primary education promote gender equality and empower women reduce child mortality improve maternal health combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases ensure environmental sustainability develop a global partnership for development

A) Progress made toward development goals

The MDGs are an international set of goals to be achieved by 2015. They are supported by indicators and are tracked around the world by reliable institutions. They provide a large portion of the very limited data that is available worldwide on development progress.

We are about halfway through the target date of 2015; however, certain developing countries may not achieve the targets. Nevertheless, major progress has been seen since 2000, as reported in this section.

Canada focuses on key sectors that contribute to the MDGs, but it also recognizes that freedom and democracy, human rights, the rule of law, and performing institutions are the necessary bases for real development to occur.

CIDA monitors progress on long-term development results that include the MDGs; however, reporting in Section 2 focuses on the more immediate results achieved by its programs.

Percentage of population living on less than $1 per day - 2000 and 2005

Information for Fragile States was not available
Source: World Bank indicators

Poverty reduction - The global economy is undergoing profound changes. These changes are partly a result of strong growth in a number of large emerging economies and of more global economic integration. Strong economic growth has been a key factor in progress toward overall poverty reduction; however, progress has been uneven among and within regions and countries. Moreover, the recent substantial rise in energy and food prices has illustrated how a number of poor developing countries are easily affected by global developments. It has also underlined the need for a wide-ranging approach to tackle global challenges.

Mortality rate for children under the age of 5 - 2000 and 2005

Source: World Bank indicators

Health - There has been substantial progress toward meeting the health-related MDGs. The global death rate in children under the age of 5 dropped from 91 per 1,000 live births in 1990 to 71 per 1,000 in 2006. This means millions of children's lives saved. CIDA has played a leading role in helping achieve this result through work in vaccination and nutrition, and in addressing communicable diseases. However, much remains to be done. Since 1990, 12 African nations have actually seen an increase in child mortality. It is estimated that nearly 10 million children die each year.

In 2007, the number of people living with HIV/AIDS was 33.2 million people, of which 15.4 million were women. Of these, more than 90 percent live in developing countries, and two thirds are in sub-Saharan Africa. The number of people with HIV appears to have stayed the same in some of the worst-affected countries; however, 2.5 million new infections and 2.1 million deaths as a result of AIDS were recorded in 2007. In sub-Saharan Africa, the estimated number of children under the age of 18 orphaned by AIDS more than doubled between 2000 and 2007, reaching 12.1 million. The impact of HIV/AIDS on women and girls is most profound. They are at increased risk of acquiring HIV, usually assume the bulk of care giving in affected families, and often suffer discrimination and abandonment when a partner is lost to AIDS.

CIDA is committed to achieving measurable results against the health MDGs. For example, since 2000, CIDA has expanded access to tuberculosis treatment, resulting in an additional 4 million people being successfully treated. In recent years, the Agency has supported developing countries in strengthening their health systems to:

• provide more accessible, quality services;
• alleviate the burden of illness such as HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria; and
• improve maternal and child health.

As part of this commitment, Canada was, in September 2007, one of the first countries to sign the International Health Partnership. This is an agreement between donors, international health organizations, and developing countries to develop concrete strategies to implement the principles of aid effectiveness in the health sector. In November 2007, the Prime Minister announced the Canada-led Initiative to Save a Million Lives. This program is delivering basic, cost-effective and life-saving health services to mothers and children in African countries where the needs are greatest.

Addressing health needs of developing countries In Mali, CIDA supported various projects to improve the quality, accessibility, and use of health care in the Kayes region, one of the poorest areas of the country. As a result, between 2002 and 2006, the number of births attended by skilled personnel increased from 23 percent to 42 percent. As well, the number of infants vaccinated increased from 49 percent to 96 percent. Since its creation in 2002, Canada has committed $980 million to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria. By the end of 2007, Canadian and other donor funding had helped the fund to provide antiretroviral treatment to 1.4 million individuals with HIV. In Madagascar in 2007, CIDA gave funds to the Canadian Red Cross to purchase and deliver 491,800 bed nets treated with long-lasting insecticides to prevent malaria, a major cause of death among children.

CIDA' s investment in the health sector was $667 million, or 23 percent of its total aid spending in 2007-2008. This includes about $222 million for communicable diseases, $135 million for nutrition, $258 million for strengthening health systems, and $52 million for reproductive health.

Change in share of world economy (between 2000 and 2006)

Changes in % share of total world economy between 2000 and 2006 uses GNI (PPP method) of developing regions as a share of total world GNI

Private sector development - Economic growth is a necessary condition for, and a key contributor to, sustainable reduction of poverty and hunger. Sustained economic growth depends in turn on a dynamic private sector. A vibrant private sector is essential for countries to take advantage of the opportunities offered by globalization; create employment and income opportunities for people; and generate tax revenues for governments. Many developing countries have made steady progress in fostering a strong private-sector-led growth in recent years, which helped to increase their share of world economy, as shown in the graph.

However, progress has been uneven among and within regions and accompanied by rising income inequality within many countries, underscoring the importance of continued efforts towards addressing constraints to pro-poor private-sector-led growth in developing countries. This is an important priority for CIDA.

CIDA's contribution to establishing entrepreneurship CIDA's support to the Kabul Procurement Marketplace project is helping increase the local economic impact of participants in international development and is supporting local Afghan businesses and entrepreneurs. This project has led to more than US$65 million in new contracts being awarded to Afghan agricultural, construction, and manufacturing companies. The project also established the Afghanistan Procurement Directory, which now features more than 3,500 legally registered Afghan businesses. Identified as a best practice by the World Bank, this project will be expanded across Afghanistan. CIDA is supporting FEDECOVERA, a federation of 36 cooperatives and 33 groups of small farmers in Guatemala. Canadian funding will help the federation expand its production and exports. It will also help increase the income and living standards of the 140,000 family members in the co-operatives. In 2007-2008, FEDECOVERA's export capacity reached 300 million tonnes. This was an impressive 650-percent increase from the previous year. This increase raised family incomes 10-20 percent.

CIDA's private sector investments were $545million in 2007-2008, or 19 percent of total CIDA aid funding, an increase of $69 million compared to the previous year. Agriculture remained the single largest investment for CIDA within this sector, in which $193 million was invested in 2007-2008.

Primary education completion rate - 2000 and 2005

Source: World Bank indicators

Education - In the last six years, developing countries have made progress toward achieving the education MDGs . Primary school enrolment has increased and spectacular advances were made in regions with the lowest enrolment (particularly in sub-Saharan Africa). Also, more girls are in school than ever before. Since 2000, the number of out-of-school children has decreased by more than 25 million. As well, both foreign and domestic spending for basic education has increased.

However, challenges remain in terms of quality and quantity. Some 72 million children are not in primary school, and 774 million adults are illiterate worldwide. Children who are out of school or drop out are most likely to come from poor households. Girls are still excluded from education more often than boys, a pattern that is particularly evident in Western and Southern Asia.

Improving the quality of, and access to, education The multi-donor and World Bank-funded Education Quality Improvement Project (EQUIP) in Afghanistan supports activities that strengthen the capacity of schools and communities to manage teaching and learning activities, placing a special emphasis on the promotion of education for girls. In 2007, Canada announced a contribution of $60 million over four years for this project, and a portion of this will fund the rehabilitation, expansion and/or construction of more than 50 schools and training for more than 3,000 teachers in the province of Kandahar. Under Tanzania's Primary Education Development Plan, gender, HIV/AIDS, and environmental education are integrated into the country's education system. Primary education results are positive: more than 45,000 new teachers have been recruited and the national enrolment rate has risen by 15 percent (now at 96 percent). Between 2003 and 2007, CIDA contributed more than $70 million to Tanzania's education plan. Since 2001, CIDA has invested more than $6.4 million dollars in improving the quality of education in Haiti's Artibonite region. This has included providing training to 1,000 teachers in more than 130 schools, benefiting more than 40,000 students.

CIDA paid out $290 million, or 10 percent of its total aid spending, on basic education in 2007-2008, an increase of more than $30 million compared to the previous year. Through the G8, Canada committed to increasing funding for basic education in Africa from $100 million to $150 million annually by 2010-2011. With $150 million going to Africa in 2007-2008, Canada is on track to meeting its G8 commitment.

Environmental sustainability - Lasting poverty reduction depends on a healthy environment. Population growth, climate change, pollution, extreme weather events, and mismanagement of natural resources are placing the people, productive assets, and physical infrastructure of developing countries at risk. The quality and integrity of the environment and natural resource base in developing countries underpin all of the MDGs, which is why environmental sustainability is both a priority sector and a theme to be integrated across all sectors at CIDA.

Despite its importance, progress towards environmental sustainability has been uneven. While access to water has improved in Latin America and Asia, the goal to reverse deforestation has made little progress globally and has in fact worsened in many of the most biodiverse areas. Environment and resource degradation continues relatively unabated in Oceania, Latin America, and sub-Saharan Africa.

CIDA aims to enhance environmental and natural resource management in developing countries, and to contribute to global solutions. CIDA uses environmental assessment to help ensure the integration of environmental considerations into all of its programming. The Agency also supports environmental projects, such as reforestation and biodiversity restoration.

Contributing to global solutions CIDA was awarded the 2008 International Award of the International Association for Impact Assessment in recognition of its excellence in environmental impact assessment and for its continued support of environmentally sustainable projects. In Ghana, more than 1.6 million people in the driest and poorest northern regions have received reliable access to potable water because of CIDA's efforts in strengthening local capacity to manage potable water and sanitation resources. Phase I of the $8.1 million Canada-Iraq Marshlands Initiative resulted in the establishment of a nationwide university network of environmental scientists to monitor the rehabilitation of the Marshlands; training of scientists to improve their ability to analyse and disseminate valid ecological data on the status of the Iraqi Marshes; and the formation of the Coordinating Body for the Iraqi Marshlands. Canada also supported the Government of Iraq in its accession to the International Convention on Wetlands. CIDA was one of three federal departments to earn top marks from the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development on its progress in implementing strategic environmental assessment. The Global Environment Fund has achieved positive environmental benefits in biodiversity, climate change, international waters, and ozone depletion. During 2007-2008, Canada renewed its commitment to this fund through to 2011.

In 2007-2008, CIDA invested $134 million in environmental programs, an increase of almost $10 million compared to the previous year.

Equality between women and men - Progress made toward equality between women and men in developing countries is mixed. In 2007, the number of women in national parliaments rose to 22 percent in developing countries. This is better than the world average of 18 percent. Women's participation in non-agricultural wage employment in developing countries has been increasing slowly; however, women still make up 60 percent of unpaid workers. More girls are in school than ever before; however, girls still comprise the majority (57 percent) of children who are not enrolled in school. The HIV/AIDS epidemic continues to affect more women than men. As well, an increasing number of married women are being infected, along with girls and young women. More international assistance is needed to improve this situation.

Achieving results for equality between women and men In Pakistan, CIDA's support enabled policy makers, law enforcement officials, civil society, international organizations, researchers, and the media to come together to combat human trafficking. This practice mostly affects women. As a result, the ministries involved in regulating trafficking made changes to their policies and increased their capacities to protect the human rights of women and girls. In Egypt, a CIDA project found that girls were not getting the same opportunities as the boys to technical education, limiting their ability to get a job later on in life. The girls identified computer skills as key to fostering their career development. To build the girls' software design skills, computer training was provided using an innovative and interactive method: designing a computer game. This method helped to overcome community resistance to girls' participation in this project, and brought girls together with boys to achieve a common goal. CIDA's funding to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has helped establish gender equality in its programming. A significant amount of UNDP programming in 2007 strengthened women's leadership abilities, particularly those of women parliamentarians and representatives elected at the local level.

B) Progress made toward democratic governance

Democratic governance is one of the keys to building states that are effective and accountable, promote the rule of law, and allow people to realize their human rights. It is widely recognized that progress on democratic governance is critical to providing an enabling environment to poverty reduction, as well as for creating the factors that will enable the achievement of the MDGs. Promoting democratic governance helps ensure Canada's security and prosperity in a world of closely connected states.

Although there has been an overall increase in the quality of governance between 2000 and 2006, progress in particular areas of governance has been uneven throughout the world. For instance:

• The extent that citizens have freedom of expression and association has increased slightly over recent years, except for South Asia, East Asia, and the Middle East.
• Across all regions, progress has been made toward achieving political stability. Conflicts in low-income countries have decreased.
• Despite mixed progress in government effectiveness in East Asia in recent years, the level of public sector performance in sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East, and North Africa has consistently improved since 2004.
• The number of women in parliaments has increased across all regions, except for sub-Saharan Africa.
• There have been general improvements in applying the rule of law in many regions, except in East Asia and Latin America.
• Despite increased attention to corruption issues, corruption is increasing worldwide.

CIDA's promotion of democratic governance Through its support to the Office of the Ombudsperson in Peru, CIDA has contributed to government accountability making the Peruvian population aware of their rights and providing a place for filing complaints. More than 140,000 human rights violations have been reviewed since 2004 and in 2007, 82 percent of the cases reported to the Ombudsman were resolved in favour of the applicant. In addition, Canada helped to restore legal identity documents to 19,000 people in rural areas who were affected by the preceding decade of violence. Having these documents guarantees their entitlements as citizens, including access to social services. A successful 10-year program of support to Mali's Ministry of the Economy and Finance has enabled the central Ministry to generate tax revenues, more than doubling tax collection from $400 million in 1997 to $950 million by the end of the project, and making Mali's fiscal administration a positive model in West Africa. In addition, CIDA supported the establishment of the Office of the Auditor General (OAG), the first of its kind in Francophone West Africa. The OAG's second annual report was published in 2007, and the Government of Mali has shown strong resolve in implementing its recommendations and a continuing commitment to fight corruption. Following an independent study, the Prime Minister of Mali concluded that up to 90 percent of the recommendations of this report have been implemented. CIDA continued to support the Haitian authorities in modernizing the justice system. To this end, CIDA has contributed to the development of legislation enabling the creation of the Great Council on Judicial Power, which has the mandate to strengthen the regulatory, planning and coordination role of the Ministry of Justice. Support to the Ministry of Justice has enabled the recompilation of all Haitian legislation in effect since 1804 and the distribution of Cd-Roms containing these laws to judges, parliamentarians, ministries and students. Support to the establishment of the Judicial School and the development of a training curriculum contributed to strengthen knowledge for more than 70 judges in 2008. In addition, the Penal and Rural Codes have been reedited, published and distributed, becoming more accessible to the Haitian population. As a result, around 1,000 people attended workshops and conferences on human rights, and more than 330 representatives from 60 civil society organizations strengthened their capacity to ensure better human rights promotion. CIDA funded the South Asia regional project on Gender Equality in Judicial Education in Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. This initiative provided training to 450 judges mainly from superior courts, and allowed trained judges in Nepal to bring landmark cases to that country's Supreme Court concerning marital rape and children's rights. The impact of this training is evident in changes in judicial decision-making with regard to gender-biased violence in participating countries. A handbook produced under this project includes these cases and was distributed to judges in the aforementioned countries. This program resulted in judgments that refer to and reflect international human rights standards.

Democratic governance is a cornerstone of Canada's international assistance and an important foreign policy priority. It represents $600 million, or 21 percent of CIDA's total funding for 2007-2008, as compared to 17 percent in the previous year. This includes $185 million for democratization, $58 million for human rights, $324 million for public sector capacity building, and $34 million for rule of law.

C) Progress made toward departmental priorities

CIDA's 2007-2008 Report on Plans and Priorities presented eight key deliverables (as listed below) that support the following four departmental priorities:

• increased strategic focus of programming;
• strengthened program delivery;
• effective use of the Agency's resources; and
• clear accountability for results.

In line with Treasury Board Secretariat requirements, CIDA provides a self-assessed rating for each deliverable.

Priority 1: Increased strategic focus of programming

Deliverable 1- Target resources in critical countries and regions.

Met - CIDA continued to make progress in bringing greater focus to its bilateral aid. Bilateral spending further increased from 78 percent in the top 20 countries in 2006-2007 to 81 percent in 2007-2008. Reaching consensus on geographic concentration was achieved. This will allow long-term financial commitments to be made.

• In Afghanistan, Canada made its largest single-year aid investment to any one country. It has also made international aid effectiveness and coordination a key priority in that country. More details are provided in a report card in Section 2.
• Haiti is CIDA's second-largest country program in 2007-2008. CIDA continued to participate in Canada's overall efforts to deal with fragility and promote security and stability in the country. CIDA's Haiti program helps reaffirm Canada's re-engagement in the Americas. Canada has increased funding for Haiti from $520 million to $555 million for 2006-2011. More d etails are provided in a report card in Section 2.
• In Latin America and the Caribbean, CIDA strengthened its support for the Government of Canada's re-engagement efforts in the Americas. CIDA developed a Caribbean Programming Framework under which a $600-million program covering the next 10 years will operate. More details are provided in a report card in Section 2.
• In Africa, CIDA's investment in education has contributed, along with other donors, to 14 sub-Saharan countries reaching gender parity in basic education.
• The Canada Fund for Africa, which ended on March 31, 2008, was a unique tool that helped African countries achieve sustainable growth and development.

Deliverable 2 - Focus on high-impact sectors by increasing the emphasis on democratic governance and on the rights and equality of women.

Met - CIDA continued to emphasize democratic governance and equality between women and men in its programming, partnerships, and policies. In CIDA's country programs and in its partnerships with Canadian, international, and multilateral organizations, democratic governance is a priority sector and gender equality is a cross-cutting theme.

• For more than three decades, equality between women and men has been a core commitment of CIDA's development programming. CIDA has a well-established reputation among donors, developing-country governments, and other partners as an influential and effective voice for integrating gender equality.
• CIDA integrates equality between women and men into its programming, but in some cases, integrated programming alone is insufficient to achieve results. In these cases, CIDA uses programming that specifically focuses on gender equality to ensure results are achieved. CIDA continuously strives to improve how well its programs and those of its partners address gender equality.
• Since 2006, CIDA has strengthened its knowledge and expertise in democratic governance in order to promote innovative and effective democratic governance programming across the Agency, and to act as a focal point for Canadian and international partners and experts whose work focuses on democratic governance.
• CIDA has ensured that democratic governance remains a key element of CIDA's approach to bilateral programming, particularly in countries of concentration and in fragile states. Democratic governance is also a major focus of CIDA's partnership programming with civil society, the private sector, and multilateral and international organizations, which enables a well-rounded approach to achieving results in democratic governance.

Priority 2: Strengthened program delivery

Deliverable 3 - Recognize the role of civil society in aid effectiveness.

Met - As Chair of the OECD-DAC Advisory Group on Civil Society and Aid Effectiveness, CIDA led an extensive consultation process that fostered the further recognition of civil society's role in aid effectiveness.

• The advisory group consulted 2,000 stakeholders from 90 countries and produced a number of analytical papers. In February 2008, an international forum was held in Gatineau, Quebec that brought together 208 key representatives from the donor, partner government, and civil society communities. The report on the forum's findings and recommendations has been endorsed by the OECD's working party on aid effectiveness. It was tabled at the Third High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness, held in Accra, Ghana, on September 2-4, 2008.
• As a result of these efforts, the international community's understanding of aid effectiveness has been enriched. The various roles played by civil society organizations (CSOs) are now better appreciated. How various stakeholders can best complement each other is also better understood. CSOs around the world are now more aware of the need for concerted action to improve their effectiveness, and they are organizing themselves for further work.

Deliverable 4- Renew and strengthen CIDA's partnerships with Canadian partners.

Met - In consultation with key Canadian partners, CIDA continued its review exercise in seeking increased efficiency, accountability, and transparency.

• A series of crucial principles and potential programs have been identified to guide the Agency and its partners toward more effective development results. Examples of such principles and programs include recognizing the crucial role of non-state participants in development, adopting a more strategic approach to partnership programming, and supporting the leadership of Southern civil society and private sector organizations.
• The review exercise has been taken into account in CIDA's emerging, integrated approach to civil society and aid effectiveness.

Deliverable 5 - Assess the effectiveness and relevance of key multilateral institutions and develop an investment strategy.

Partially met - During 2007-2008, CIDA continued to improve its assessments of key multilateral partners; however, efforts to develop an investment strategy are ongoing, partly due to the challenges posed by the number and diversity of multilateral organizations.

• In 2007-2008, multilateral effectiveness and relevance assessment (MERA) findings were used in developing CIDA's strategies for helping multilateral partners improve their management effectiveness. MERA is being refined to enhance the quality of information collected.
• Canada participated in the 2007 Multilateral Organisations Performance Assessment Network (MOPAN) survey.⁶ This survey covered the African Development Bank, the UNDP, and the World Health Organization (WHO). These organizations found the survey findings to be positive and useful in enhancing the impact of their operations at the country level.
• Canada, with other MOPAN members, was involved in developing a stronger approach to assessing the effectiveness of multilateral organizations. This approach is expected to increase the scope, quality, and reliability of information, enhance the harmonization of donors' efforts, and reduce the costs of doing business among donors and multilateral organizations.

Priority 3: Effective use of the Agency's resources

Deliverables 6 and 7- Invest in a sustainable workforce; support public service renewal.

Met - CIDA continued to implement the Public Service Modernization Act (PSMA). CIDA met its commitments on the four priority areas of the Public Service Renewal Action Plan: planning, recruitment, employee development, and enabling infrastructure.

• Planning - Conducted the first corporate planning exercise to identify Agency-wide human resources management priorities.
• Recruitment - Exceeded the 57 projected post-secondary indeterminate appointments by making 76 appointments. The Agency also adopted an approach to fostering talent in the executive group and the pool of future executives. Discussions on performance, learning, career development, and succession are integrated into the approach.
• Employee development - Piloted parts of the new Development Officer Learning Program and Leadership Learning Program. The Agency surpassed the expected rate of employees who completed learning plans of 90 percent by reaching a 93-percent rate.
• Enabling infrastructure - Enhanced systems to meet the PSMA's implementation requirements. The capacity of its human resources management function was stabilized.

In addition, the strategic review conducted in 2007-2008 allowed CIDA to do further work on aid effectiveness and on increasing focus, efficiency and results by identifying opportunities to reallocate 5 percent of CIDA's budget from lower-priority programming and countries to higher-priority initiatives. Reallocations will be implemented over three years.

Priority 4: Clear accountability for results

Deliverable 8 - Implement the Federal Accountability Act Action Plan.

Met - CIDA was actively engaged in the government's plan in response to the Blue Ribbon Panel Report on grant and contribution programs. The Agency also worked to strengthen accountability-related functions, as described below.

• A Chief Financial Officer (CFO) organizational structure and an implementation plan were developed, including an analysis of roles and responsibilities, in line with Treasury Board directives and financial policies. The outcomes of these efforts will be translated into a CFO organization in 2008-2009.
• The Office of the Chief Audit Executive, reporting directly to the President, was created on April 1, 2007.
• CIDA is completing the recruitment of external members for its Audit Committee to ensure the committee's independence.
• A readiness assessment of the Agency's system of financial controls was undertaken to examine the current state of its financial statements in preparation for audited financial statements as part of the implementation of the CFO model.
• A complete update of the Corporate Risk Profile was conducted and tested.
• The Agency worked closely with the Treasury Board Secretariat to develop Performance Measurement Frameworks at the sub-activity level (for example, country programs).
• CIDA measured its progress against aid effectiveness principles in the context of the 2008 OECD survey on implementing the Paris Declaration. It has developed a three-year action plan.
• CIDA developed an action plan following its active engagement on the government's plan in response to the Blue Ribbon Panel Report on grant and contribution programs to streamline business procedures and reduce administrative burden.

STRATEGIC OUTCOME	SELECTED PERFORMANCE INDICATORS
Sustained support and informed action by Canadians in international development	Level of public support Level of awareness, support and engagement related to Canada's development program

This outcome reflects the Agency's intention to support a more active and participatory role for Canadians in international development. Public support is crucial in delivering Canada's development assistance program, and this support relies on the understanding of development challenges that persist in many countries. Consequently, CIDA's communications and engagement activities are focused on informing, educating and engaging Canadians on a broad range of international development issues. In 2007-2008, CIDA reached 52,000 Canadians under the Public Engagement Fund. This number exceeded the original target of reaching a minimum of 10,000 Canadians.

CIDA also co-invests in Canadian partners' awareness and outreach activities, and in their programs offering Canadian opportunities for participation in international development. The Office of Democratic Governance programs aim to enhance Canada's aid effectiveness by establishing partnerships with key Canadian experts, organizations, institutions and other government departments whose work focuses on democratic governance. As such, in 2007-2008, Canada contributed expertise in democratic governance through 84 Canadian election observers. A new method was launched to provide just-in-time democratic governance technical assistance.

CIDA's Afghanistan Task Force: Communicating the mission Since April 2007, CIDA participated in more than 100 local events across the country. There are 30 Canadian NGOs now participating with CIDA in communicating on Afghan aid and development. The Rebuilding Afghanistan photo exhibition has reached more than 23 cities and 18,000 Canadians. CIDA also contributed to the government's website on Afghanistan (10,000 hits were received in May 2008, of which 70 percent were new visitors).

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