[comment] Will Canadian leaders keep promise to world's children?

from the Toronto Star

by Dave Toycen

Canadian elections are times to make promises and, hopefully, times to keep promises that are on the verge of being broken.

Tomorrow, Canada will have another critical opportunity to keep its promises as more than 100 world leaders gather at UN headquarters in New York City. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon is convening them for a high-level event to re-energize their earlier commitment to meet the eight Millennium Development Goals by 2015.

Reducing by 50 per cent the number of people living in extreme poverty and cutting the child mortality rate by two-thirds are among the goals that leaders set in 2000 and promised to fulfill.

While some headway has been made since 191 countries, including Canada, established the goals in 2000, the current economic crisis along with recent soaring food and fuel prices threaten a halt to further inroads.

A new World Vision report on progress of the two goals related to child and maternal health to date, to be released at the UN summit, notes that more than 9 million children under the age of 5 still die annually from easily preventable causes.

Shocking as that number is, it marks an improvement from three decades ago when one in four children failed to celebrate their fifth birthday. Today, this number is less than one in 10.

Still, 62 countries are in danger of failing to meet the goal of reducing their child mortality rate by two-thirds.

Africa presents a special challenge – half of the continent's countries have shown either no change or an increase in their child mortality rates. Without a major boost in help from Canada and other developed nations, these countries will fail to meet their targets – and millions of children will needlessly die.

Preventing this tragedy requires neither unrealistic outlays nor medical breakthroughs. Most children die from diarrhea, malaria or respiratory illness, often in a lethal combination with malnutrition. Investments in safe water, anti-malaria nets and nutrition programs cost little and are proven lifesavers. The World Health Organization estimates that an additional $5.6 billion (U.S.) annually would save the lives of 4.3 million children in 2015 alone.

We know that leaders can raise almost $1 trillion in short order to respond to the global financial crisis. Why can't they find that same political will – and far less cash – to help the world's children?

We believe that Canadians want our country to be a leader in addressing poverty. In my conversations with many of World Vision's 600,000 supporters, I am struck by their concern for the poor. They keep their promises to children in developing countries through their generous support. Shouldn't our leaders do the same?

In June 2005, all parties backed a House of Commons resolution to increase foreign aid so that it would reach 0.5 per cent of our gross national income (GNI) by 2010, and 0.7 per cent by 2015. Currently, our foreign aid budget is a paltry 0.28 per cent of the national income, ranking 16th out of 22 OECD nations.

Canada first endorsed the 0.7 per cent level in 1970 shortly after Lester Pearson established that target. Denmark, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden have achieved that goal, but the best Canada has done is 0.53 per cent–and that was more than 30 years ago, in 1975.

The Paul Martin government agreed to increase foreign aid spending by 8 per cent per year until 2010. Prime Minister Stephen Harper has maintained that commitment, but it has not been enough. Our contribution as a percentage of gross national income has fallen further from the 0.7 per cent objective, declining to the current 0.28 per cent over the past three years.

Dave Toycen is president and CEO of World Vision Canada.

Link to full article. May expire in future.