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Many achievements have been made through CIDA’s efforts and the efforts of developing countries themselves.
At the macro level:
- Since 1970, the developing countries of the world have made tremendous progress, cutting infant mortality rates by 50 percent, increasing life expectancy by eight years, halving the illiteracy rate, and reducing poverty.
- Progress has been especially notable in East Asia and the Pacific, where the number of people living on less than US$1 a day has dropped by almost half.
- In the past decade alone, the developing world’s population increased from 4 billion to 5 billion, while average per capita incomes rose by more than 21 percent, and the proportion of people living on less than US$1 a day declined by 7 percent.
- The under-five mortality rate dropped from 103 to 88 deaths per 1,000 births, and life expectancy rose from 63 years to nearly 65.
- Eight percent more people had access to safe water, and 15 percent more had access to basic sanitation.
- Worldwide, there has been a clear trend toward democratically elected governments, increased attention to human rights, public participation in decision making, and open, free-market economies.
At the country-level:
- CIDA support to HIV/AIDS prevention programs has led to a drop in the infection rate in Cambodia and Uganda.
- In concert with other donors, CIDA has helped increase enrollment in primary education in a wide range of countries, including Bangladesh, Senegal, and Tanzania.
Over its more than 55 years of involvement in development cooperation, Canada has built an enviable reputation as a leader in several key areas of importance to Canadians:
- promoting human rights, gender equality, and children's rights and protection;
- pioneering the involvement of the voluntary and private sectors in development programs and strengthening the effectiveness of aid programming;
- winning many awards, including the United Nations Foundation Award for Leadership in Global Polio Eradication, which was awarded in January 2005;
- being a world leader in Vitamin A supplementation, which has saved the lives of an estimated 1.5 million children between 1998 and 2001; and
- showing leadership on micro-credit initiatives, especially for women, which has increased incomes and status for women in many countries, including Sri Lanka, Cameroon, and Ecuador.
Canada Responds to the Challenge of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)
Working alongside other donors to achieve the MDGs, Canada has taken a comprehensive approach that involves harnessing the expertise of various government departments on such issues as aid, market access, debt relief, and security. Canada’s major initiatives include the following:
- doubling development assistance between 2001 and 2010;
- improving the effectiveness of Canada’s aid;
- cancelling debt totalling $588 million between 2001 and 2004;
- providing duty-free, quota-free access to most imports from the world’s least developed countries, which led to the quadrupling of imports from these countries between 1994 and 2004; and
- creating the $500 million Canada Fund for Africa as part of our long-term commitment to the continent.
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