Jun 13 2011 @ 12:27

EWB Heads to Parliament Hill

On June 14th, more than twenty members of Engineers Without Borders (EWB) will head to Parliament Hill to meet with over 50 Members of Parliament. They will be discussing the state of Canadian aid and providing concrete recommendations for improvement.

This is an exciting moment for EWB's advocacy efforts. As we move forward from our successful election campaigning, we are looking to have Canada sign the International Aid Transparency Initiative - http://www.aidtransparency.net/ - before the Fourth High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness, scheduled for this November in Busan, South Korea.

Tomorrow will also feature a press conference on Parliament Hill with MPs from all three parties. The press release is below.

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For Immediate Release
June 13, 2011

OTTAWA – On Tuesday, June 14, Engineers Without Borders Canada (EWB) will join Conservative MP Dean Allison, NDP MP Paul Dewar and Liberal MP Mark Eyking for some frank discussion on inefficiency in Canadian foreign aid. They will hold a press conference on Parliament Hill to call for more transparency around the decisions behind our governments foreign aid spending. The press conference will take place from 10:00am-10:30am in the Charles Lynch Press Room (Room 130-S, Centre Block – Parliament Hill).

EWB's focus on solutions to inefficient aid goes against the grain. Conventionally, NGOs focus on pressing government to increase aid spending. EWB is disrupting that conversation by asking how we can get more for every dollar spent. Increased transparency is one of those solutions.

"This is not just about helping people overseas; it's also about spending taxpayer money responsibly," said James Haga, EWB’s Director of Advocacy. "To be a global leader on issues of poverty, Canada needs to continuously improve the results of aid. This can only happen when the why, how and how much behind our aid spending is made transparent. Canadians have every right to know their government is doing everything it can to spend their money in a responsible way overseas, especially at this time of cutbacks and spending restraint."

Tomorrow's press conference comes on the heels of EWB's joining the Global Campaign to Make Aid Transparent - www.publishwhatyoufund.org/. The press conference will launch a push to get government to sign on to the International Aid Transparency Initiative before the Fourth High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness, scheduled for this November in Busan, South Korea.

Engineers Without Borders Canada is an organization of professional engineers, students, overseas volunteers and supporters across Canada who advocate for modern solutions to complex global challenges. In Africa, we invest in African organizations and entrepreneurs to identify and scale up practical, long-term solutions to poverty. In Canada, our 50,000 members engage citizens in conversations on how they can make decisions that better promote human development. To learn more about EWB, please visit www.ewb.ca.

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For more information on this story of to arrange an interview, please contact:

(1) Daniel Miller
Media coordinator, EWB
(709) 687-4547
danielmiller@ewb.ca

(2) James Haga
Director of Advocacy, EWB
(416) 723-0667
jameshaga@ewb.ca

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