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In 1987, the Canadian Cooperation Office (CCO) was established to support the Government of Canada's development cooperation program with the Government of Nepal and programs concerning immigration and public affairs.
CIDA works with a wide range of Canadian and Nepali partner organizations. In addition to bilateral programming, CIDA provides development assistance to Nepal through its Multilateral and Partnership Branches.
CIDA supports development programs based on the principle of strengthening aid effectiveness. These principles include
- Local ownership, which means that development strategies, if they are to be sustainable, must be developed by recipient countries - their governments and people - and they must reflect their priorities, rather than the priorities of donors.
- Improved donor coordination, with recipient countries bearing the main responsibilities for coordinating their development cooperation with other countries and institutions.
- Stronger partnerships, through the development of compacts that would identify the responsibilities of developing countries and their external partners, as well as those shared by all.
- A result-based approach, with improved monitoring and evaluation of development program and,
- Great coherence in those "non-aid" policies of industrialized countries that can have profound effects on the developing world - for example, policies on trade, investment and technology transfer.
In addition to these principles, three other factors are of central importance to the effective use of aid investment:
- Good governance: Governance provides the broad setting for development and its quality has a profound effect on development success and aid effectiveness. A number of studies, including the World Bank's Assessing Aid (1998) and the Role and Effectiveness of Development Assistance (2002) provide compelling evidence that good governance and a sound policy environment are the most important determination of aid effectiveness and development progress.
- Building capacity: Enhanced capacity - public and private sectors - is also critical to sustainable development. It is necessary for developing countries to engage effectively in international trade and in the development of multilateral environmental agreements. Past aid programming often failed because it focused on resource transfers and did not provide enough support for local capacity development efforts to sustain these investments once donor countries had withdrawn support.
- Engaging civil society: Participatory process, particularly those engaging civil society and the people expected to benefit, are essential to establishing clear, locally owned priorities for development cooperation. They are also critical to ensuring that aid investments help meet the needs of the poorest and most marginalized people in a society.
CIDA's Interim Programming Strategy (IPS) for Nepal aims to contribute to poverty reduction and conflict mitigation in Nepal, by supporting the efforts of poor rural communities to protect and improve their health and livelihoods in an equitable manner, to empower women and marginalized groups to contribute to the planning and delivery of community health and agricultural services which are pro-poor and socially equitable and to mitigate the impact of Nepal's civil conflict on communities receiving CIDA assistance.
- CIDA recognises that community-based approaches and self-governance have limitations. While operating at the community level, the program will support the strengthening of linkages between CBOs and relevant district and national organisations, including government where feasible. CIDA also may, through multi-donor approaches, support capacity building of government institutions where there is an obvious tie-in to our program objectives. Opportunities to do this, however, are expected to be limited during the next 18 months given the ongoing conflict and lack of elected local government representatives.
- Policy feedback and sharing of experience will ensure the impact of CIDA's program is broadened beyond the communities in which we work. Priority will be given to participating in government and donor working groups on health, agriculture, decentralization, conflict & security, gender, and environment. Through these groups, CIDA will strive to influence HMGN and donors to ensure their policies and programs are inclusive and sensitive to the needs and interests of poor rural communities, women and marginalised groups. Efforts and resources will be devoted to increasing the quality of CIDA's participation in these fora, through strengthened knowledge and analytical capabilities in the program's sectors of focus.
- Synergy will be pursued with multilateral and partnership programs operating in Nepal. Of particular importance will be to engage the peacebuilding and humanitarian assistance programs, as well as DFA, in ensuring an appropriate Canadian response to the conflict.
- A Peace and Conflict Impact Assessment of all ongoing programming will be completed in early 2004, and will help ensure projects are well adapted to working in conflict and are having a positive or neutral impact on conflict dynamics.
- Peacebuilding will not be a distinct focus of CIDA's bilateral program; however, consideration may be given to selected conflict-related initiatives through pooled funding, multilateral agencies, the Local Development Facility, and Multilateral Branch. Such initiatives will not likely exceed 10% of CIDA's annual budget for Nepal.
- In order to address the root causes of the conflict and promote equitable and sustainable development in support of Nepal's overall poverty reduction efforts, it will be essential that all groups participate in, benefit from, and take part in decision-making of development initiatives that affect them.
- As reflected in the IPS expected results, gender and social inclusion will be integral to CIDA's programming approach in Nepal. The program will continue to ensure that women, the poor and other groups that are largely marginalized from development activities are engaged in and benefit from all CIDA programming initiatives. In addition to "mainstreaming," GE-specific programming will continue given the momentous challenges ahead to achieve gender equality in Nepal.
Peace and Conflict Impact Assessment
The Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) has conducted Peace and Conflict Impact Assessment for its programming in Nepal in light of reviewing its portfolio in the current conflict situation. The study has focused on finding out the impact of the project on conflict and vice versa.
Following are the key findings of the study:
- Limited access of marginalized, remote areas to development projects
- Relationships with CPN-Maoists
- Community responses to the conflict
- Gendered impact of the conflict
- Transparency and accountability in project delivery
- Direct benefits as perceived by the community.
For more in-depth reading : CIDA PCIA-Summary Report
History of Canadian Assistance to Nepal
Canadian development assistance to Nepal began in 1958 when the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) supported a one-time food aid project. Nepal established diplomatic relations with Canada in 1965.
Initial Bilateral Assistance: The bilateral development assistance program was initiated in 1970 with support to the development of Nepal's civil aviation capability. In the 1980s, CIDA's assistance focused on poverty alleviation, health care, and food security. It continued assistance in energy planning and domestic air transportation.
During these years, Canada sought to strengthen Nepal's institutional capacity and human resource base for development of a sustainable level of food and energy production. Since the early 1990s, CIDA has been focusing its efforts on fostering growth with equity through poverty reduction, gender equality, good governance, and environmental sustainability.
Previous Assistance: Prior to 1995, the bilateral program of development assistance had three objectives:
- promoting equitable socio-economic growth through integrated rural development, rural health, and food security in mid-western region;
- further developing and strengthening energy planning and implementation capabilities including environmentally sustainable energy and
- Supporting Nepal's rural transportation strategy by improving domestic civil aviation infrastructure, management capability, and enhanced airport safety and security.
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Lessons Learnt
The main Lessons Learnt from CIDA's previous assistance concluded that:
- In the civil aviation sector, the sustainability of efforts would require greater government capacity and resources.
- In the energy sector, technical assistance had built the capacity of individuals, however building the capacity of institutions presented greater challenges.
- In integrated rural development, the greatest achievement was building the socio-economic infrastructure and confidence of farmers in the most remote districts.
- A key learning from past projects is that communities and community groups can bring about social transformation, economic development, and effective and equitable governance if they are:
- organized for collective action towards a shared vision and common vision,
- empowered for building self-confidence and self-esteem and
- Mobilized to contribute to the strengthening of human and social capital.
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