Engineers Without Borders, Make Poverty History and ONE campaign to protect Canadian aid

WHAT'S THE ISSUE?

Canada's foreign aid plays a critical role in fighting extreme poverty worldwide. With past cuts to Canadian foreign aid and the current economic climate looming in the lead-up to the Canadian government's 2014 budget.

HOW DID GLOBAL CITIZENS RESPOND?

Global citizens teamed up with Engineers Without Borders, Make Poverty History and ONE to launch a petition-based public advocacy campaign around protecting Canada's foreign aid budget.Together, 21,115 Canadians from across the country made their voices heard through the petition hosted on protectaid.ca and global citizen. In support of the campaign, Global Citizen developed content and collateral for the campaign, such as an infographic on the impact of Canada's foreign aid.

WHAT'S THE IMPACT?

On February 6, 2014, global citizens and Engineers Without Borders presented the petition with a press conference at Parliament and formally handed over the petition to Lois Brown MP, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of International Development. On February 11, the Canadian government tabled its 2014 budget and confirmed that there would be no cuts to foreign aid spending.

WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?

In the current economic and political climate, global citizens must continue to make the case for the effectiveness and impact of Canadian foreign aid. Though next steps in Canada will focus on the GAVI and GPE replenishments alongside calling for a continuation Canada's leadership on maternal, newborn and child health, campaigning around aid effectiveness will continue to anchor the messaging in all of Global Citizen's advocacy in Canada.