We must work to end the international plundering of Africa’s natural resources and turn our attention to supporting the emergence of strong African nations with full respect for their sovereignty.
We need support the African Union’s leadership role in establishing cooperative peace and security treaties between countries, and reinforce solutions created by Africans for Africans. Now is not the time to abandon the African continent by withdrawing our support.
The Canada Fund for Africa has come to an end. Some programs will continue but the Harper Administration has largely withdrawn from constructive engagement. The casual decision, without discussion or debate in the House of Commons, to formally withdraw from the UN Convention to Combat Desertification was a further signal that Canada is no longer interested in Africa.
Canada has also refused to assist the UN peacekeeping efforts in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Africa needs a renewed commitment from Canada both financially and through peacekeeping.
Green Party MPs will:
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Re-engage with the African continent;
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Make development assistance target the poorest of the poor;
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Align our ODA to Africa with population and climate goals, providing ramped up assistance through the Global Climate Fund and to the Millennium Development Goals (due for completion in 2015);
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Re-engage and ratify once again our commitments to the UN Convention to Combat Desertification.