Foreign aid hardly ever makes the news — unless there is a devastating natural disaster somewhere in the developing world, or a scandal involving a Canadian aid organization.
At Canadian Affairs, an organization whose mission is to cover undercovered topics that matter to Canadians, we think this is wrong.
The Canadian government provides billions of dollars each year for aid work around the world. And millions of Canadians donate millions of dollars to aid groups that serve some of the most vulnerable and marginalized people on the planet.
It matters to a lot of Canadians, in other words.
Why is there so little media coverage? One reason is that foreign aid is almost never an election issue, so it’s not on the mind of most reporters. Another is that cash-strapped media organizations simply don’t have the resources to delve into the topic. A third is that few newsrooms have anyone with any expertise in the area.
That’s why it usually takes a major disaster or major scandal for the topic to get any media attention at all. Meanwhile, the work of thousands of Canadian NGOs, and the funding they receive from the federal government and the public, goes largely unreported and unnoticed.
That is where Canadian Affairs comes in.
We know that international relief and development aid matters to Canadians who support this work with their dollars. We know it matters to elected officials who vote each year to spend taxpayers’ money on foreign aid. And we know it matters to the thousands of professionals in the development sector and the communities — here in Canada and abroad — that are shaped by their work.
With the launch of our foreign aid reporting project this week, Canadian Affairs will begin bringing a lens to this topic.
For our readers, you can expect to see stories — such as this week’s inaugural article — on what a new government could mean for foreign aid funding; how development work affects Canada’s image and standing in the world; who chooses where development dollars go; and what accountability metrics exist to ensure good value for money.
To fund this important coverage, Canadian Affairs has invited Canadian aid groups to contribute modest funding to cover our reporting costs. Some have already responded to this call.
These funders, who are listed below, will not dictate our coverage. But they will have the opportunity to alert us to topics they think merit attention.
Through our journalism, we want to reflect the ways — good and bad — that development aid affects Canadians at home and abroad.
We welcome your feedback on our coverage.
Canadian Affairs’ foreign aid reporting project funders are:
- Canadian Foodgrains Bank
- Canadian Lutheran World Relief
- Cuso International
- Development and Peace — Caritas Canada
- Manitoba Council for International Cooperation
- Alongside Hope
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