CIDA in Brief
What is CIDA’s mandate?
Where is CIDA now?
With whom does CIDA work?
CIDA by the Numbers
How can I do business with CIDA?
What are CIDA’s achievements?
Examples of Activities
 What is CIDA’s mandate?
CIDA’s aim is to reduce poverty, promote human rights, and support sustainable development.
CIDA was established in 1968 to administer the bulk of Canada’s official development assistance (ODA) program. The measure of its success lies in its contribution to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and Canada’s broader international policy objectives.
An Afghan girl studies in a community managed
rural school. CIDA is helping to rehabilitate
the educational system in Afghanistan's
southeast and centrasl regions.
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CIDA’s priorities are poverty reduction, democratic governance, private sector development, health, basic education, equality between women and men, and environmental sustainability. These are areas in which Canadian expertise can make a difference.
CIDA works in concert with its development partners, fragile states and countries in crisis, selected countries and regions, and the Canadian population and institutions.
Key Dates
- In 1968, CIDA was formed to administer the bulk of Canada’s ODA program in Africa, the Middle East, the Americas, and Asia.
- In 1995, CIDA took on the responsibility of administering Canada's official assistance (OA) programs in Central and Eastern Europe, and the former Soviet Union (countries in transition) by supporting democratic development and economic liberalization.
Where is CIDA now?
The Agency is concentrating more and more of its bilateral (country to country) aid in a group of countries that have shown they can use this aid effectively.
This concentration does not include programs carried out in other developing countries by multilateral agencies such as UNICEF, the United Nations Development Programme, and La Francophonie. Neither does it include cases of crisis, conflict, and natural disaster that require fast intervention, as provided by CIDA’s strong helping hand.
Here in Canada, CIDA’s headquarters is located in Gatineau, Québec. As well, regional offices are in place across the country to better engage partners, individuals, the private sector, and civil society.
With whom does CIDA work?
CIDA works closely with other federal departments, many kinds of Canadian organizations, international organizations, other donor countries, and of course, developing countries themselves.
CIDA by the Numbers
Fiscal Year 2005–2006
CIDA Expenditures (Development Aid): $2.782 billion
Distribution of CIDA Funding 2005-2006
Sub-Saharan Africa: $1.3 billion – 46.74%
North Africa and the Middle East: $129 million – 4.6%
Americas: $459 million – 16.5%
Asia: $780 million – 28.1%
Eastern Europe: $114 million – 4.1%
How can I do business with CIDA?
At a tree nursery operated by Ghana's Ministry
of Food and Agriculture, men and women plant
seeds in a project providing farmers with
information about agricultural techniques in
order to improve their income.
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CIDA provides funding for international development programs and projects through contributions to Canadian and international institutions of many kinds. The Agency also enters into contracts with Canadian companies for the implementation of their programs and projects.
Varying funding criteria exist for each type of applicant and for each type of program or project.
For more information, visit Working with CIDA.
What are CIDA’s achievements?
Real progress has been made. CIDA obtains results in inter-national development by working jointly with its local, Canadian, and international partners.
Here are Some Results
- Worldwide, the number of people in developing countries living on less than $1 a day fell to 980 million in 2004—down from 1.25 billion in 1990. The proportion of people living in extreme poverty fell from nearly one third to 19 percent over this period.*
- Progress has been made in getting more children into school in the developing world. Enrolment in primary education grew from 80 percent in 1991 to 88 percent in 2005. Most of this progress has taken place since 1999.*
- Child mortality has declined globally, and it is becoming clear that the right lifesaving interventions are proving effective in reducing the number of deaths due to the main child killers, such as measles.*
- In addition, thanks to CIDA's contribution, Ghana, a country of 22 million people, is well on the way to achieving the first MDG. In 1991–2006, this African country nearly halved its poverty rate (from 51.7 percent to 28.5 percent). The absolute number of the poor declined from 7.9 million in 1991–1992 to 6.2 million in 2005–2006. In Tanzania, the net primary school enrolment rate rose from 59 percent in 2000 to 96 percent in 2006. One in two pupils is a girl. In 2003, CIDA and UNICEF started up a three-year joint project that reduced infant mortality by 20 percent in 11 West African countries.
Examples of Activities Showing Results in the Following Sectors:
Education
CIDA’s support to this sector contributed to 6.8 million more children being enrolled in school since 2000 in a number of African countries, such as Tanzania. In Mozambique, more than 3.5 million schoolchildren received textbooks.
Environment
A project to supply sustainable water and sanitation (PASOS) in Honduras has enabled 61,000 individuals to have access to running water and sanitation services.
Health
Vitamin A supplements were distributed, saving the lives of more than 300,000 children under the age of 5.
Equality Between Women and Men
According to an assessment by the United Nations Development Programme, CIDA is the only donor in Egypt to have successfully integrated equality between women and men into all its activities.
Humanitarian Aid
The aid supplied to victims of the tsunami that ravaged coasts around the Indian Ocean helped provide 1.3 million people with food from the World Food Programme and the inter-national community.
Private Sector Development
Launched by the Government of Afghanistan in June 2003, the Microfinance Investment Support Facility (MISFA) has far exceeded expectations, granting more than $70 million in loans to some 300,000 urban and rural poor in Afghanistan. While traditional banks would not likely have shown confidence in the poor, 98 percent of these clients have repaid both capital and interest. Their word is literally money in the bank. Canada, through CIDA, is the largest donor to this program.
For more information on international development results, visit CIDA’s Stories from the Field.
The Agency also has speakers available to give talks on international development. Contact the Public Inquiries Unit (1-800-230-6349)
* Source: United Nations. The Millennium Development Goals Report 2007, New York, 2007.
PDF Format
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CIDA in Brief (PDF 438 KB, 4 pages)
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