Canadian Famine Relief: F-18s And Arms

AFGHANISTAN: Millions face hunger as drought worsens, warns ChristianAid ....Oct 18/06
......2.5 million drought-stricken Afghans across much of the country have lost their crops and are facing acute food shortages, international aid group Christian Aid warned
......An assessment carried out mainly in the northwest, found that many people have lost 70 to 80 percent of their rain-fed crops following too little rain last winter and spring. The drought is also acute in other parts of Afghanistan, like the southern province of Zabul. Local authorities in Helmand province had earlier appealed for urgent assistance for some 5,000 families who have been displaced by drought and recent fighting in the area.
......Another 6.5 million people are likely to suffer chronic food insecurity due to the lack of rainfall this year, Christian Aid said.

Afghan Government, UN seek $43 million more for drought and conflict victims ....Oct 22/06
Millions of Drought-Stricken Afghans Need 'Vital' Attention as winter nears ....Oct 21/06
Afghanistan Drought: Women Married Off for Income ....Oct 10/06

THE CANADIAN RESPONSE:
Canada's Afghan aid ....Oct 21/06
While Ottawa's pledge of $1 billion in aid from 2001 to 2011 is generous, it pales in comparison to our military outlay.

Canada commits six jets to NATO ....Oct 31/06
Feds seeking bids on shopping list for Afghan police ....Oct 30/06
Candian Hercs air-drop supplies to US troops ....Oct 30/06

Long-term food aid continued for poorest in Kabul ....Oct 23/06
......Canada will continue to provide emergency food aid ($2.5 million) for widows in the capital of Kabul past a planned cut-off date of March 31, after widows planned an extraordinary protest against the phase-out of food in favour of job training.
NB: Only for Kabul widows

Canadian cabinet minister makes surprise visit to Afghanistan ....Oct 23/06
......International Co-operation Minister Josée Verner announced $5 million for a program to help integrate women into local garden markets. She also announced $14.5 million for a girls' education project
NB: But no hunger relief. Canada did spend $4,000,000 for the Tim Hortons

CIDA silent on Afghan projects ....Oct 6/06
......Amir Attaran - is Canada Research Chair of Law, Population Health and Global Development Policy at the University of Ottawa.
......As a professor who studies international development, I wanted to know if our aid money — tax money — is being well spent to help Afghans.
......The information CIDA offers the Canadian public about its Afghan activities is incomplete and inaccurate. A comparison of CIDA's journalists-only project list and its public website shows that nearly every project has an inconsistency in its budget, timeline, or both. The public cannot know what CIDA plans to do with the $1 billion it plans to spend for Afghanistan this decade.
......In July, I used the Access to Information Act to ask CIDA for the "monitoring, evaluation, and/or audit reports for each CIDA-funded project ... carried out in Afghanistan."
......CIDA asked for 240 days — eight months — to divulge the monitoring, evaluation and audit reports for Canadian-funded aid projects in Afghanistan. Nothing in the Access to Information Act obliges CIDA to consult so widely or to withhold project results; the agency's officials do so by choice.
......CIDA explained that in nearly all projects, Canadian aid money is channelled through international middlemen, such as the World Bank or the UN Development Program. The middlemen commingle CIDA's money with that of other countries, and when they do, CIDA refuses to divulge any monitoring, evaluation or audit reports without the agreement of those other countries.
......CIDA has only three staffers in Kandahar, meaning it must turn to the middlemen, the same UN agencies Harper accused of being unaccountable.
......The situation is galling for the Afghans, too. When Canada channels aid through the UNDP or World Bank, it is making a choice to prefer it over Afghanistan's government. Afghans are understandably annoyed by our politicians, who talk of "strengthening Afghanistan's governance," but who deny their government's priority to govern.
......The Conservative government tells Canadians that we are at war in Afghanistan, not for reasons of belligerence, but for reasons of bringing development.

Canada delivers emergency aid and reconstruction to Kandahar ....Oct 22/06
......Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), will provide nearly $5 million (4,400 tonnes of food) for emergency food aid for 12,000 vulnerable families from Panjwai and Zherai Districts, who were displaced by NATO from their homes during Operation Medusa.
To date [ since 2002? ] , Canadian construction and rehabilitation include:
......1,290 kilometres of roads,
......6 bridges,
......2 Km of retaining wall,
......28 small irrigation projects,
......39 schools,
......3 health clinics,
......43 drinking water facilities and
......204 dug water wells with hand pumps.
NB: CIDA has an established record of failing to deliver aid.

Harper defends slow pace of reconstruction work ....Oct 17/06

Canadian NGOs Refuse Southern Afghanistan ....Oct 21/06
......CARE and World-Vision say they have not and will not, pursue contracts with CIDA for work in Kandahar until the Canadian military focuses its efforts exclusively on security and policing efforts. This is because it is impossible to keep their people safe when Canada's military is also involved in humanitarian projects.

Note: AFGHANISTAN: Drought-s... AFGHANISTAN: Millions ... Afghan Government, UN ... Millions of Drought-St... Afghanistan Drought: ... Canada's Afghan aid Canada commits six jet... Feds seeking bids on s... Candian Hercs air-drop... Long-term food aid con... Canadian cabinet minis... $4,000,000 for the... CIDA silent on Afghan ... Canada delivers emerge... Harper defends slow pa... Canadian NGOs Refuse S...