At the Millennium Summit in 2000, world leaders committed themselves to the achievement of 8 Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015. Both rich and poor countries agreed to work towards the eradication of extreme poverty and hunger, the elimination of gender inequalities, the prevention and treatment of HIV/AIDS, protection of our environment, and the provision of education, healthcare and clean water.

In 2005, Canada adopted a new international policy statement which sets out a new framework for Canadian development cooperation with a view to strengthening its impact and effectiveness. Notably the new statement lays out a plan to focus Canadian efforts and resources in five core sectors and in 25 ‘focus’ countries. Canada is committed to providing two-thirds of its aid to these 25 predominantly African countries, but there is still a risk that these Canadian country programs lack critical mass.

While the substantial increase in assistance in 2005 is a step in the right direction, U.S. aid as a share of income still has a long way to catch up with European countries. In 2002, the U.S. made a significant commitment to increasing ODA and targeting aid more effectively, by establishing the Millennium Challenge Account (MCA). However, the impact of the MCA on overall ODA levels has been limited so far. In particular, requests from the administration to Congress have been lower than promised, and in turn what has been granted by Congress is even less.