ACIC UPDATE

Executive Directors report 1-3

Where has all the public engagement gone? 4-5

Get to know your Board Members 6

How to obtain co-op/summer student funding and the difference between the two

7

Community Forests International 8

International Aboriginal Youth Internship Program report 10-13

CUSO International launches new volunteer initiative 14

Red Cross Even Wars Have Limits Campaign 15

CUSO Health flyer 16-17

Environment Canada terminated funding to Environmental Networks

18

Oxfam Maritimes 19

Active-8! Campaign 2012 20-21

Istanbul Principles 22-23

Inside this issue:

Ren

dez‐vous

ATLANTIC COUNCIL FOR INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION

Volume 11 Issue 3

Spring 2012

Executive Director’s Report By: Jennifer Sloot Over the past few months, volunteers and staff at ACIC have been working hard to bring a number of different projects to frui‐on. The following report outlines the re‐

sults that have been achieved in the last quarter and notes upcoming events and ac vi es. PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT PROGRAMS

Move Your World Youth Conference ACIC is currently looking for ACIC members to work in partnership with us and the Ca‐nadian Red Cross to host the seventh annu‐al Move Your World Youth Symposium. This event is a four‐day, eye‐opening event for Atlan c Canadians aged 15‐18. The con‐ference brings together up to 50 youth to learn about global issues and develop skills in an interac ve, exci ng educa onal expe‐rience.

This year the conference will take place in the fall of 2012. This is an exci ng oppor‐tunity for ACIC members to engage youth on issues important to your work. Partner‐ships in this project take many forms and we are seeking partners that contribute in a variety of ways. If you would like to know how you can get involved and contribute to the project, please contact Rena Kulczycki at admin@acic‐caci.org for further infor‐ma on.

Interna onal Aboriginal Youth Internship Program ACIC has four Aboriginal youth interns working with us through CIDA’s Interna on‐al Aboriginal Youth Internship Program. These four interns are currently working in Chile and Bhutan, in partnership with ACIC members, Ins tute of Island Studies and GPI Atlan c. Please see pages 10‐13 for more details from the interns. For addi on‐al informa on about the program, please contact Carolyn Whiteway at projects@acic‐caci.org.

Interna onal Youth Internship Program

ACIC submi ed a proposal to CIDA for their Interna onal Youth Internship Program (IYIP) in February. The proposal requests 20 interns per year over two years. The proposal was submi ed on behalf of 9 ACIC member organiza ons and 8 southern part‐ners. It is an cipated that the results of this compe on will be available in the summer of 2012.

Con nued on page 2

Page 2

Execu ve Director`s report

RENDEZ-VOUS

International Development Week – Active‐8 Campaign

ACIC hosted its third annual Ac ve‐8 Campaign, which was launched during International Development Week (February 5‐12th, 2012). Working in partnership with Saint Mary’s University, UNB Fredericton, and the Marine Institute, we reviewed nominations and selected 8 excep‐tional youth from the Atlantic that are making a differ‐ence in the world. The eight youth then spent the month of February gathering commitments of action from col‐leagues, family, friends and the general public. We are pleased to announce that this year two leaders were awarded the top prize, gathering more than 3800 com‐mitments of ac on between the two. We would like to congratula on Kandace Hagen and Tara Brinston, along with all of the ac ve‐8 ambassadors, for their contribu‐ons both during the campaign and beyond. Please see

pages 20‐21 for a report on the campaign. Speakers Tour

ACIC is pilo ng a new program that provides funding to ACIC member organi‐za ons to in‐crease accessibil‐ity of speakers to the region. Small amounts of mon‐ey are available to ACIC members to support re‐

gional travel for guest speakers to the Atlan c. Please see www.acic‐caci.org for informa on on how to apply.

Members Collabora on Fund

This year ACIC funded 4 projects through our Members Collabora on Fund. The fund provides up to $1,000 to ACIC members and partners for small public engagement projects. The fund is intended to encourage collabora on between ACIC members and others around public en‐gagement work.

Regional Public Engagement

In the last few months, ACIC has been organizing focus groups as part of our consulta on process that seeks to be er understand the overarching ‘voice’ of our region and to determine how ACIC members can further collab‐orate to engage more Atlan c Canadians in a meaningful way. It is our hope that a er comple ng these focus groups, we will have a be er understanding of how we can work together on a collabora ve public engagement project that will touch on exis ng work that members are doing. If you haven’t par cipated in a focus group or interview already, please contact Janelle Frail at pe@acic‐caci.org to set up a mee ng.

Inter‐Council Network (ICN) – Public Engagement Research Project

The ICN is made up of the seven provincial and regional councils in Canada. It provides a forum in which the Councils collaborate for improved effec veness, learn from each other’s specific skills, troubleshoot challenges, and iden fy common priori es for collec ve ac on.

Over the past year, the ICN has reached out to the inter‐na onal coopera on sector through the organiza on of webinars on the priority themes of CIDA’s new aid effec‐veness strategy: increasing food security, securing the

future of children and youth, and s mula ng sustainable economic growth. The first webinar took place on March 27th on food security and had more than 100 par cipants registered from across Canada and abroad. The webinar featured Sophia Murphy, a consultant and Senior Advisor to the Minneapolis‐based Ins tute for Agriculture and Trade Policy's Trade and Global Governance program, who presented an hour‐long webinar in English on this topic. The webinar was also translated in real me into French. Stay tuned for more webinars in the near future. Provincial Networking Mee ngs ACIC con nues to host provincial networking mee ngs – breakfast, lunches and other networking events. In the past quarter, networking mee ngs were hosted in Hali‐fax, St. John’s, Charlo etown and Sackville, NB. These mee ngs provide opportuni es for ACIC members to come together to share informa on and resources.

Ac ve‐8 Youth Ambassador , Rebecca MacDonald & ACIC’s Rena Kulczycki sit with Heidi Petracek on CTV Morning Live, February 13.

VOL UME 11 ISSUE 3 Page 3

Please contact your provincial representa ve for more informa on. PEI – Leo Cheverie (leocheverie@yahoo.ca ) NF – Louise Webb (Louise.Webb@mi.mun.ca) NS – Andrea MacDonald (Andrea_Dawn_Macdonald@yahoo.com) NB – Silke Klenk (sklenk@unb.ca ) Professional Development

As you may have seen, a survey went out to assess the needs of member organiza ons in order to devel‐op our training plan. This informa on will be com‐bined with informa on on training needs that we have gleaned through networking mee ngs, tele‐phone calls and focus groups. It is an cipated that workshop topics, training dates and other infor‐ma on will be shared in the early spring.

CIDA Results Based Management Capacity Building Training

In order to assist Canadian partners to develop a be er understanding of Partnership with Canadians Branch proposal applica on processes, ACIC con n‐ues to work with CIDA to administer the RBM training that is organized and delivered by the Centre for In‐ter‐cultural Learning (CIL). This past year, the CIL facilitated RBM training from October 19‐21st in Hali‐fax, NS and January 25‐27 in Fredericton, NB. Details about upcoming trainings will be shared when they are available.

ACIC’s Annual General Mee ng & Symposium June 14‐16th 2012

This June, ACIC will be hos ng our Annual General Mee ng & Symposium in An gonish, Nova Sco a at the Coady Interna onal Ins tute from the 14‐16th.

Over the 2.5 days of the event, ACIC members and others will have the opportunity to network, build capacity and hear from experts in the field. We also an cipate having some Coady interna onal students join us for the event, as they will be finishing up three cer ficate programs during the symposium.

We hope that you will join us for this exci ng event. Please stay tuned for more informa on about the event. Please check the ACIC website (www.acic‐caci.org) and social media pages (Facebook: Atlan c Council for Interna onal Coopera on, Twi er: @ACIC) for details in the coming months. Shirley Case Leadership Award in Global Ci zenship

The Shirley Case Leadership Award in Global Ci ‐zenship has been set up to pay tribute to ACIC members that have exhibited leadership in global ci zenship. This year, the deadline for nomina ons was April 5th. A commi ee that includes board members, ACIC staff and past winners will examine the nomina ons and select a winner. This decision will be conveyed to ACIC’s board of directors who will approve the final decision. The award winner will be announced at this year’s AGM & Symposium in An gonish, Nova Sco a.

ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

ACIC Staff & Volunteers

ACIC’s Board of Directors and commi ees have been extremely busy over the last few months. The board has had two mee ngs, the execu ve com‐mi ee has met once, and ACIC’s numerous com‐mi ees have in many cases been mee ng monthly or more. There are many opportuni es to get in‐volved with ACIC’s board and/or commi ees and each requires a small commitment of me and en‐ergy. Please contact me if you would like more informa on about joining our board or one of our commi ees, listed below:

Evalua on Commi ee Policy & Ethics Commi ee Programs Commi ee Membership Commi ee AGM & Symposium Commi ee

If you would like more informa on on any of these events or ac vi es, please don’t hesitate to contact me at director@acic‐caci.org or at 902‐431‐2311.

Execu ve Director’s report cont...

Page 4

Where has all the Public Engagement Gone?

RENDEZ-VOUS

By: Jennifer Sloot—ACIC Over the past few months, ACIC has been working with the provincial councils and the CCIC on a sur‐vey that was administered to our collec ve 400+ members about CIDA’s most recent calls for pro‐posals. The survey documented the impacts of the new funding mechanism at Partnerships with Cana‐dians Branch (PWCB) at CIDA for council members. Unfortunately, the survey was implemented before the Partners for Development – Canadian Universi‐es call was closed, so infor‐

ma on related to this pro‐cess was not included in the results. A report has since been re‐leased to members, the me‐dia and the general public. The report, tled “Pu ng Partnership Back in the Heart of Development: Canadian Civil Society Experience with CIDA’s Call‐for‐Proposals Mechanism, Partnership with Canadians Branch. An Analy‐sis of Survey Results”, pro‐vides an analysis of the sur‐vey results, key conclusions and a list of recommenda ons. But what does this mean for us in the Atlan c region? How does it impact ACIC members? ACIC’s membership is possibly the most diverse of all of the councils. We are one of the only councils that includes environmental groups, community based groups, colleges and universi es, and individ‐uals. We also represent many larger organiza ons as branch or regional offices. We comprise numer‐ous small offices – many having one paid staff per‐son (or less!) and we o en have workloads that in‐clude regional outreach. Our work includes direct

overseas development work, public engagement, educa on, outreach and training, to name a few. But, because our membership and our work is so diverse, it is o en difficult to find a subject that touches on all of us. However, while not all ACIC members are reliant on CIDA funding, the results of this survey and the implica ons of changes at CIDA are reflec ve of general trends in funding and therefore are relevant to almost all ACIC members. We had just 10 organiza ons in the Atlan c that responded to the survey (of 158 responses in total),

presumably because a smaller percentage of ACIC members are reliant on, or receive CIDA funding. The groups that did respond to the survey were medium sized organiza ons (7 had more than 6 staff members, and half had budg‐ets of over $500,000). Most were reliant on federal fund‐ing, with very li le funding coming from provincial gov‐ernments. 90% of the re‐spondents had been working in the sector more than 10 years. A key point to note was that 70% of the respondents receive more than 3/4 of their

overall funding from Partnerships with Canadians Branch (PWCB) at CIDA, a trend that was reflected in the overall survey as well. This shows that heavy reliance on CIDA funding to support our work. Of the 10 respondents from ACIC, only 3 applied to CIDA for funding within the last year (all 3 within the under $2 million call) and none of them were successful. The problem here is that not only are few organiza ons in the Atlan c applying for fund‐ing, but those that are applying are not being suc‐cessful. This has serious implica ons. When or‐ganiza ons from the Atlan c are not funded to do

VOL UME 11 ISSUE 3 Page 5

development and/or public engagement work, the result is a dwindling representa on of develop‐ment organiza ons based in the Atlan c. In the last few years, numerous organiza ons have ei‐ther down‐sized or closed their doors en rely in the Atlan c, resul ng in fewer jobs in the sector and fewer projects being implemented that have an Atlan c perspec ve. We know that we have a different way of doing things in the Atlan c – if we look historically at the work being done by ACIC member organiza ons, we can see that we are more closely connected to our local cons tuents. When Atlan c Canadian organiza ons do not ap‐ply for, nor receive, funding to do interna onal coopera on work, we are losing our unique way of doing things. In addi on, we know that the Pubic Engagement work that accompanies larger scale projects is es‐sen al to building support for organiza ons/ins tu ons and their work. In the new funding mechanism, the Partnerships with Canadians Branch at CIDA has changed the way in which or‐ganiza ons can access PE funds. There is no long‐er the ability to allocate up to 10% of funds of large projects to PE ac vi es; stand‐alone PE funds have been replaced by direc ve programs such as the school twinning program, which has more limited par cipa on; other programs such as the Global Classrooms Ini a ve are being re‐worked, which has resulted in delays. This im‐pacts that Atlan c region in a huge way. Many ACIC members are engaged primarily in PE work and funding cuts impact their ac vi es. Some regional offices are funded through PE funds, thus organiza ons make decisions to close their offices. And very importantly, Atlan c Canadians are not having access to awareness/engagement pro‐grams that build their knowledge and enable them to learn about ac ve global ci zenship. This of course has a massive impact.

Cont...

So, what can we do? For a start, ACIC has been work‐ing on a PE research project that will help to build a case for con nued PE funding by CIDA and other Fed‐eral government departments. A public opinion poll that was conducted in March 2012, will provide evi‐dence that Canadians support interna onal coopera‐on work and think that the government should con‐nue to fund it. This will enable us to show govern‐

ments (both federal and provincial) that Canadians want to be engaged and support the sector. ACIC’s Income Diversifica on Commi ee is also help‐ing to address these concerns. The commi ee has been working over the past months to develop a me‐dium to long term plan that looks at ways in which we can maintain or increase funding for the sector. This will include engaging poli cians (federal and provin‐cial), civil servants, the private sector and the media to increase awareness of and support for our work in the Atlan c. Finally, we can con nue to pressure our governments, our organiza ons and our funders to support the im‐portant work that is happening in Atlan c Canada. Only through con nued and sustained work by ACIC and its members can we begin to push back and to demand our righ ul place on the world stage.

Page 6

Get to know your Board Members

RENDEZ-VOUS

Name: Louise Webb Organiza on: Marine Ins tute, Memorial University of Newfoundland Posi on on board: Secretary Where are you from? Originally from London, Ontario – but have lived in Africa (Ghana, Botswa‐na, Southern Sudan),

North West Territories and for the past 33 years in St. John’s, NL.

What do you do all day at your job? I worked in Africa with CUSO as a return volun‐

teer and later as an Administrator of CUSOBOT (Botswana) and CUSO Sudan. In Newfoundland, I have worked at the MI Interna onal, Marine Ins tute (Memorial University of Newfound‐land) un l January 2012. I have recently re red.

How did you end up working with ACIC? Bill Chisle , Director of MI Interna onal (who is

a member of ACIC) introduced me to ACIC. I was encouraged to apply for a posi on on the Board last spring (AGM – ACIC in St. John’s, Newfoundland)...so here I am.

What song do you know all the words to? Jingle Bells. What’s the best piece of advice you were ever given? Look a er yourself – no one else with do it for

you!

What’s on your bucket list? Take a world cruise. Take a trip across Canada

on the train. What’s your favourite smell? Baked bread. What’s your favourite film? Casablanca. What’s on your iPod right now? What is an iPod? I think that answers your

ques on. What would you do if you won the lo ery? Pay off all my debts first... then take the world

cruise I have on my bucket list – and a er that I would likely check out some chari es.

Name three dream diner party guests. Bill Clinton, Oprah, Jane Austen. Where’s the strangest place you’ve ever been to? Travelling down the mountains in Mexico – with

no brakes... Tell us something we don’t already know about

you. I am an Aquarius. Ever had a nickname? Weezie. If you could go back to any me in history, when

would it be? Jane Austen period – to experience the repression of women.

Thank you to Louise for submitting this fun Q&A

By: Olivia McDonald As a student, I understand how important it is to have relevant job experience in your field of exper se. Upon gradua on there will be an ocean of poten al job pro‐spects out there, and you are one person trying to stand out among hundreds. What will make you stand out will depend on a few different factors, but having good real‐life job experience is definitely at the top of the list. How to get good experience is proving difficult, especially in these tough economic mes. A lot of poten al employ‐ers think, “Why should I hire someone for a few short months who doesn’t have much, if any job experience? By the me they get the hang of things, it will be me to return back to school!” I’ll tell you why! Not only does having a co‐op student provide work experi‐ence to the student but it was also benefits your organiza on in several ways, which I will outline below. What a lot of people don’t know is that there are government funding op ons available specifically for non‐profit or‐ganiza ons to be able to host your own summer or co‐op student. Before I share how, let me differen ate be‐tween the two. A summer student is, as it suggested a posi on only offered during the summer months, typically end of April to August as that is when post‐secondary students are finished school for the year. There are several benefits to having a summer student, one being you have a larger pool of students to choose from with a variety of skills and backgrounds to bring to the table. Since most stu‐dents don’t have classes during the summer months, everyone is looking to be employed. Taking on a summer student to assist strictly with events and sponsorship is a job descrip on that is o en found on the world of online job banks. During the summer months a lot of full‐ me employees take vaca ons, having a summer student around to pick up the slack makes returning from vaca‐on easier on everyone involved.

With every posi ve there is also a nega ve. As men‐oned above summer students typically are chosen from

a larger audience of candidates. While this is a posi ve

it’s also a nega ve in disguise. The downside to this is, not everyone will be qualified for the job. A lot of people will apply to jobs that look interes ng but don’t neces‐sarily pertain to their field of study. That means that they may not have any knowledge or previous experience/skills that could aid them should they be the successful candidate. That’s not to say that these individuals won’t do a good job or work hard, just something to keep in mind when sor ng through prospec ve co‐workers. A co‐op student is a student seeking employment for

their related field of study. These stu‐dents must receive a job that is relevant to their degree or area of study and are o en graded on their performance in order to receive academic credit. De‐pending on the school, program and year of study o en mes students have already had a semester of previous rele‐vant work experience. For example, with my program at school (Bachelor of

Public Rela ons at Mount Saint Vincent University in Hal‐ifax) we have to complete 3 mandatory co‐ops upon gradua on. I am currently on my second one now work‐ing for the Atlan c Council for Interna onal Coopera on. This past summer, I was working as the Marke ng & Communica ons Assistant at the City of Kelowna in Bri sh Columbia. Naturally, as each co‐op passes the stu‐dent will have more and more job and classroom experi‐ence they can a ribute to day to day tasks. Something that could be looked as a benefit or a down side is that co‐op students can be hired at any point during the year. Typically the work terms are;

September – end of December January – end of April April – August

Work terms replace school semesters and are typically 4 months in length and coincide with regular school peri‐ods. If organiza ons busy months are during the sum‐mer, having a co‐op student looking for work in January won’t benefit anyone. However, the good thing with The Mount’s co‐op program is at all points during the year students will be looking for a job placement. The mes indicated above outline the

How to obtain a co‐op/summer student funding & the difference between the two

VOL UME 11 ISSUE 3 Page 7

Con nued on page 9

Page 8 RENDEZ-VOUS

By: Jeff Schnurr This spring Community Forests Interna‐onal (CFI) is con nuing their successful

community tree‐plan ng project in Pemba, Tanzania. The organiza on works with rural villagers to collect seed and propagate seedlings in community owned nurseries. The resul ng seedlings are planted on communal land for fruit, mber and environmental conserva on.

Presently two members from the Cana‐dian branch of Community Forests Inter‐na onal, Jeff Schnurr and Daimen Hardie, are based in Pemba where they are working with local staff to tend to the 306,000 seedlings the communi es have grown for this year’s plan ng season. In addi on to tree plan ng, the organiza on is building a voca onal training centre, as well as a primary school for the small islet of Kokota. At present, Kokota has no school, no dispensary and no fresh water source, causing the villagers to travel each day by boat to collect fresh water. In order to solve both the school and water issue, CFI is building a school with the aim of developing a rain‐water harves ng systems that will catch over 300,000 liters of rainwater from the school’s roof. This integrated approach to community development has resulted in a huge local contribu on, with the community itself do‐

na ng bricks for building, the transporta on of

Community Forests Interna onal

materials and a large por on of the effort’s labour.

CFI is working to make rural vil‐lages more resilient in the face of climate change, and believes that healthy, viable natural environ‐ments make for healthy and hap‐py communi es. For more infor‐ma on about Community Forests Interna onal’s work, or to see updates in real‐ me, please visit the organiza on’s newsfeed at

www.forestsinterna onal.org/news.

Photo middle: CFI future voca onal training centre

Photo above: A mother and son observing one of

nine community nurseries.

In order to increase access to speakers in the Atlan c region, ACIC will make funds available to support the par cipa on of interna onal or other guests to the region to speak at member public engagement (PE) events. ACIC members will be able to access small amounts of travel money (up to $400) to have a speaker that is already in the ar‐ea visit a different city or town in the region to par cipate in PE events. Funds can be used for travel costs in the region only. The ACIC members will be responsible for or‐ganizing and providing funds for the event. The fund is open to ACIC members in good standing. For applica ons forms please visit, www.acic‐caci.org. Eligibility: ACIC members in good standing Applica on deadline: Applica ons will be accepted on a rolling deadline un l all funds are used.

ACIC Speakers Tour Fund

VOL UME 11 ISSUE 3 Page 9

hiring periods. Should you choose to obtain a co‐op student, there are several guidelines and rules in place (depending on the ins tu‐on) which the university advisor

can go over with you upon request. In terms of funding available for that extra hand on deck there are several op ons depending on what you’re looking for:

The first is the Strategic Coopera ve Educa on Incen ve (SCEI). This program provides fund‐ing for any Nova Sco a organiza on to obtain a university or community college student(s).

The second is Student Career Skills Development Program (SCSDP). This program provides fund‐ing for Nova Sco a not‐for‐profit organiza ons to obtain a summer posi on for postsecondary students.

The third is Coopera ve Graduate Placement Pro‐gram (CGPP). This program provides funding to graduate students as an incen ve to Nova Sco‐a employers offering full‐ me employment to

graduates of Nova Sco a’s co‐opera ve educa‐on programs.

If you are interested in finding out more informa on about these programs and their respectable applica‐on deadlines you can visit, www.gov.ns.ca/econ/sep

for more informa on. Be sure to fill out and adhere to all the guidelines and due dates as applica ons can be declined due to incompleteness. If you have any ques‐ons or concerns with the applica on process there is

a toll free number for applicants within Nova Sco a, 1‐800‐424‐5418. Unfortunately ,the other three Atlan c Provinces do not have co‐op/student funding systems in place. How‐ever, there are opportuni es to obtain funding from the federal government depending on the students area of exper se. In Nova Sco a, funding is available through the provin‐cial government. A complete list of all co‐op advisors

Summer student & co‐op student cont..

for universi es and community colleges are available online at, www.gov.ns.ca/econ/sep/scei . These advisors can help you through the applica on process and will give

you a low‐down of what to expect once you hire a student. A program called the Federal Student Work Experience Program (FSWEP) provides co‐op and summer student funding to organiza ons.

This program provides funding for any type of organiza on in any province in Canada. The program funds approxi‐mately 9,000 students each year from various trades and degrees. The program is typically open from October of one year to the following October. For more informa on on that program and its requirements please visit, h p://jobs‐emplois.gc.ca/fswep‐pfete/index‐eng.htm .

For more informa on on co‐op students and their partner‐ing schools please visit the Canadian Associa on for Co‐opera ve Educa on’s website at, h p://cafceatlan c.dal.ca/ .

Hopefully this ar cle provided some insight on the poten‐al opportuni es that lie out there for all types of organiza‐ons. There are certainly more funding opportuni es avail‐

able and never a shortage of students. From my experienc‐es the co‐op program has been nothing but posi ve. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed my short me here with ACIC and I’m op mis c to what the future holds. I know one thing; it will be hard to top a co‐op like this. For more informa on on hiring a Mount Saint Vincent Uni‐versity co‐op student, click here h p://www.msvu.ca/en/home/programsdepartments/coopera veeduca on/employerresourcecentre/default.aspx . Please note: the Mount has not only Public Rela ons stu‐dents enrolled in the co‐opera ve educa on program but also Business Administra on, Tourism & Hospitality Man‐agement, History and Informa on Technology students as well.

Mount Saint Vincent University has been an ACIC member since

2005. Olivia McDonald is a third year Bachelor of Public Rela ons

student from the Mount currently on her second of three co‐ops

with the Atlan c Council for Interna onal Coopera on.

Page 10 RENDEZ-VOUS

Aboriginal Youth Internship Program (AYIP)

The Aboriginal Youth Internship Program will help me gain valuable working experience that will help me gain a leader‐ship role in my home community. ‐ Dennis Kirkness

“My passion is to share culture and to learn new tradi ons”

I’m most excited to see the natural beauty of the country, and to get to know the grassroots

people, women, youth, and elders.—Samantha Lewis.

This year’s interns at Porcupine Lodge in Truro, NS. Back: Olivia Levi, Dennis Kirkness, Zane Siylliboy, Jared Paul‐Fontaine, and Jonathan Wright. Front: An Elder from the Lodge, Samantha Lewis and ACIC’s Program Manager, Carolyn Whiteway.

“I hope to gain not only personal growth, but also life lessons & experiences that I can bring back to Canada and share with everyone.” “I am most excited about mee ng the indigenous people of Peru and working with the youth!”‐ Jared Paul‐Fontaine.

“I hope to learn from the countries abo-riginals and to learn their culture and botany. Doing so will help improve my traditional land use consultation skills.” - Jonathan Wright

“I hope that I can grow into the person that I hope to be. I always felt that I was meant to do bigger things. This internship will help me mature mentally, socially and professionally.” ‐ Olivia Levi

“I’m very excited of where I’m going to be living, to see Peru and eat the food! Learning to speak Spanish will be the most challenging aspect of this trip. I hope to gain some great professional con‐tacts, knowledge and understanding of the Peruvian culture including the Na ves.” ‐ Zane Sylliboy

VOL UME 11 ISSUE 3 Page 11

ACIC Aboriginal Youth Internship Program (AYIP) Bhutan intern report

By: Dennis Kirkness Hi everyone, I would like to express how deeply this internship has furthered my percep ons regarding local, na on‐al, and interna onal issues affec ng our planet today. I am par cularly interested in Ecological and Indige‐nous Economic development through my internship with GPI At‐lan c. I congratulate GPI for the outstanding work they have done in this area, and it is a great pleas‐ure to be a part of this break‐through organiza on. As for the internship in Bhutan, it is extraordinary to experience genu‐ine progress and community development from a founda on building standpoint. I get to help with the community economic development process, by facilita ng valuable knowledge empowering Bhu‐tanese youth to be community leaders. For exam‐ple, I was tasked by Bhutan Youth Development Fund’s (YDF) Program Director, Aum Dorgi Ohm, to document, a never before documented, ancient ruins site in Tsirang, a region located in south‐central Bhutan. With GPI’s train‐ing and previous educa‐on, I was able to develop

a local wisdom workshop which was delivered to Tsirang’s Young Volun‐teers in Ac on (YVIA). The Local Wisdom training gave the youth the skills nec‐essary to conduct qualita ve research and docu‐menta on; as a result the YVIA interviewed two local elders, travelled to two separate sites; a his‐torical cave and the ancient ruins and are currently

crea ng a video documentary. The emphasis on this project was on gross na onal happiness (GNH) by pro‐ducing opportuni es for heritage development, and po‐

ten al tourist devel‐opment. The next task will be in Bumthang, Bhutan, where I have a chance to gain more experience in facili‐ta ng and leading community projects. The program will in‐clude crea ng an ex‐tensive community profile and facili‐ta ng entrepreneuri‐al and business de‐velopment career

opportuni es. I am really excitedly busy, and it feels great. I will be happy to report further when this is done. In addi on to Genuine Progress Index Atlan c (GPI) and Bhutan Youth Development Fund (YDF), I would also like to thank Atlan c Council for Interna onal Coopera on

(ACIC) and Canadian In‐terna onal Develop‐ment Agency (CIDA) for their involvement in making this great intern‐ship experience a reality.

Dennis (second from le ) with local Bhutanese Youth from Young Volunteers in Ac on in front of a cave in Tsirang in South‐central Bhutan.

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ACIC Aboriginal Youth Internship Program (AYIP) Bhutan: the path that I never expected

By: Jonathan Wright My journey started pre y unconven onally. I was working as a consulta on officer for Sucker Creek First Na on when I decided that I should make a change in my life. Looking back, I had no idea how my life would change and the very amazing peo‐ple, culture, and scenery I would witness and come to love in Bhutan. Several weeks later I was on my way to Halifax to start my training. Here, I met the other aboriginal interns, we became quite close and we were ready to set out on our journey. Landing in Paro, all I could think of was, “wow!” I was greeted in the customary Bhutanese way by our colleague, Gwen Coleman. I started my cultural training and got to see some amazing sites in Bhutan. Most memorable was the climb to Tigers Nest, a sacred temple situated on the side of a mountain. It was breathtaking and resome! High eleva on paired with steep paths made for a tricky climb, but I’m happy that I didn’t wimp out! During my two months here so far I have had a whirlwind of adventures and self‐building experiences. I have visited; Thimphu (the capital) Bumthang, Gelapho, Phensoling, Umsang (a small village where we spent the lunar new year) and Tsirang, where I am currently based. During my me in Thimphu I have encountered some great people. I met the Youth Development Fund (YDF) staff and the Youth Volunteers in

Ac on (YVA), a group of youth dedicated to mak‐ing their communi es be er. The group wanted to do something in their community, so they approached the government for help and YDF was born. Amazing individuals! They really demonstrate that if you can dream it, you can do it.

In Phensoling, we a ended a YDF coordi‐nators conference, where we gave a work‐shop on intergenera‐onal sharing. We met

all the coordinators and Youth Coordinators In Training (YCIT). One thing I learned is that the YCIT have a philosophy that youth are the leaders of today (not tomorrow). While here, we also had the opportunity to meet

the Second Queen Mother, who is also the presi‐dent of YDF. We presented a dream catcher to her, which she liked and we had the opportunity to talk with her. She is a great inspira on and has a very youth conscience. This is definitely a highlight of my life! In Bumthang, we had the opportunity to visit a local village with only 19 residents. Here, we celebrated the lunar New Year with the villagers (who were all women). It was a great experience and probably the most fun I’ve had in a long me! I felt the most welcome I’ve ever felt

visi ng somewhere. We went to each house, only 6 in the whole village, singing songs door to door. When we got to each house we would sing a few songs and dance around a table, then have

Jonathan enjoying Bhutan’s outdoors

VOL UME 11 ISSUE 3 Page 13

a few drinks. Doing this brings prosperity and happiness to the home. The villagers believe that the mood you feel on New Year’s is how you’ll feel all year! Looks like I have a great year ahead of me! While here, we went to the nomad fes val, and had the opportunity to learn about the indigenous people of Bhutan. We also wit‐nessed some tradi onal games being played; I even tried Bhutan‐ese shot‐put and placed fi h! I learned how similar Bhutanese indigenous and Canadian indige‐nous cultures, tradi ons & cus‐toms are. How they do an offering, how they ask permission to bor‐row land, how they interact with their elders and even some of their words are similar. Finally, we went to Tsirang and Gelapho. We were invited to join Her Majesty on a trip to these two places. She was doing a tour of the schools and a

“say no to drugs and alcohol” campaign.

I am so grateful I had the oppor‐tunity to experience this. It was nice to learn Bhutanese royal pro‐tocols and how people interact and treat their royalty. We were com‐plimented by Her Majesty that our protocol prac ces were be er than the Bhutanese, I’m quite proud of that. A er touring the two ci es, we were dropped off in Tsirang. So far we met the villagers of the place the YVIA do their community service. Staying in the village you get to experience the social condi‐ons and hardships of the villagers. They wake up every day at 5am and start to get ready; the kids head off at 7am for their hour and

15 minute walk to school. They work all day un l about 6pm then start dinner, which takes 2 hours to cook. We eat, and then go to bed around 9‐10pm. All the people have great hearts and understand happiness and what’s important in life! We did a plant survey here, where I trained villagers on how to properly catalogue plants. I also taught a few English classes at the local high school. I feel that I have done, seen, experienced and learned so much. I can’t wait to see what the next two months holds and what’s wai ng for me around the corner! I’m not sure what the rest of the path holds for me, but I do know for sure that this internship will change me forever and will make me a be er person.

AYIP report cont...

Tigers Nest in Bhutan

Jonathan and his alu (li le brother in Bhu‐tanese) pose for a photo

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Fredericton photographer Brian Atkinson has taken pic‐tures in over 70 countries, but last fall he had a unique experience as a volunteer for Cuso Interna onal in Hon‐duras. Atkinson was part of a program that sent teams of pho‐tographers and writers to various countries to document the work of Cuso Interna onal volunteers. “We wanted to ensure people at home could see Canadians in ac on and also to recruit even more volunteers,” says Atkinson, who spent six weeks in the La n American country. At‐kinson says being open is key. “You have to be prepared; you have to be flexible. For most volunteers it will be at least a li le different – or even a lot different – than you’re expec ng.” Atkinson traveled throughout the country observing and photographing the work of Cuso volunteers in youth and natural resource manage‐ment sectors. His work is used by Cuso to promote pro‐grams and educate the public on the organiza on’s ac vi‐es. Atkinson describes his experience as intense, but

posi ve. “I’d known about Cuso since the 1960s, so it was great to finally get the opportunity to go with them,” he says, adding that he has no hesita on about recommending the experience to others. “If you’re new to interna onal travel, you can look at more stable countries. Cuso is flexible about where they send you.” Atkinson says it was a valuable learning experience. “Volunteering is a two‐way street. You go in and expect to do things. But you have to wait and work at the speed and me of the people you work with. You learn from them and they learn from you.” Re red school teacher and administrator, Della Webster, agrees. Webster, who lives outside Saint John, spent six months in Mongolia in 2010. “I was an educa onal advi‐

Cuso Interna onal launches new volunteer ini a ve sor for their equivalent of our principals, vice‐principals and teachers,” she says, explaining that she designed workshops and helped to find funding. “I worked on hands‐on learn‐ing, what children need to know to take them on to their next step.” She trained administra ve people on how to organize schools to accommodate new curriculum. “I kept saying to them this is how we do it in Canada, but I

always had to consider how these ideas could be adapted to Mongolia. It’s so im‐portant as a volunteer to start something that can be maintained when you leave.” She says she’d always wanted to volunteer with Cuso. “A er I re red, all the ducks were in a row, and I said, wow it’s me. You can travel somewhere but you don’t get to know people the way you do when you live there.” Webster said there were lots of needs in her community

and she even helped with gardening by providing seeds paid for by friends and businesses at home. “Mongolians were very aware of Canada, not about how big it was but that we have similar climate, and the Inuit and Dene people look like them. We have some similar tradi‐ons.” Her experience was memorable and special. “The

Mongolian peo‐ple are really lovely, very in‐telligent, very forward looking, says Webster. “I’d love to go back.” Both Atkinson and Webster say that Cuso Inter‐

na onal provides excellent training and support. The well‐respected organiza on has just celebrated its 50th anniver‐sary and con nues

Above: A girl sits in a field in Honduras. Below: Honduras children dress in tradi onal clothing during a celebra on. Photos by Brian Atkinson

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VOL UME 11 ISSUE 3 Page 15

By: Kalina McCaul

The images that usually come to mind when one thinks of war, and in par cular of children in war, are dark and are o en associated with chaos, death and destruc on. Whilst o en true to a certain extent, these images tend to portray those caught up in conflict as vic ms, rather than as resilient actors who adapt and s ll have hope for the future. The Canadian Red Cross’ Even Wars Have Limits youth group is seeking to challenge these domi‐nant percep ons of children affected by conflict, and is currently accep ng submissions for its 2012 Art Challenge. The aim of this project is to highlight the resiliency of children in conflict and post‐conflict situa ons. It is hoped that this year’s challenge will build on the success of last year’s Photo Exhibit in raising awareness and engaging the community on these is‐sues. The Art Challenge is aimed at engaging the public of all ages in the Atlan c Provinces, and youth par cipants of the Child Advocacy and Rehabilita on Program in Libe‐ria. Art submissions do not need to depict armed con‐flict itself, but should be inspired by / relevant to the art challenge theme of children and war. The deadline for submission is April 6, 2012 and selected submission will be exhibited in Halifax in the Spring. For more infor‐ma on and for an applica on form, please visit our website www.redcross.ca/childrenandwar

Cuso con nued

to send volunteers to over 40 countries in La n America, Africa and Asia. Contracts vary in length from several weeks to two years. The public is invited to “Volunteer 4 the World” Commi ee gatherings, Fredericton – Sunday, April 22 at 2pm at CCNB, 180 St. John Street with a screening of The Economics of Happiness OR Halifax – a Meet and Greet Social on Saturday, April 28th,Unitarian Church, 5500 Inglis St. Cuso Interna onal is re‐establishing commi ees across Canada to raise awareness and engage Canadians in development issues. They will also provide an opportuni‐ty for returned volunteers to share their experience and remain engaged in interna onal concerns. For more informa on, contact Marian White at 1‐800‐676‐8411 or atlan connect@cusointerna onal.org.

Red Cross—Even Wars Have Limits Campaign

Photo: Par cipants from the Liberian Red Cross – Child

Advocacy & Rehabilita on (CAR) program.

Calling all runners, walkers, cheerers, fundraisers and local volunteers to join team Bluenose Run for the World in this year's Bluenose Marathon in Halifax, May 18-20. It's easier than you think! Run or walk, all proceeds will go towards suppor ng Cuso Interna onal's work. If you are interested to get in‐volved, contact Tara Henderson at tara.henderson@cusointerna onal.ca / 1‐888‐434‐2876 Ext 245. Any other Ques ons give a shout to one of the runners, Kimberley Byers, kimberley.byers@gmail.com

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VOL UME 11 ISSUE 3 Page 17

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Environment Canada Terminates Funding to Environmental Networks

By: Moira Peters—originally printed by the Halifax Media Co‐op

Grassroots environmental groups and organizers were hit hard by the federal announcement on October, 13th that the half‐million dollars that funds Canada's environmental networks would be terminated.

For people like Katherine Gagne of Gays River, NS, this means the opportuni es she has had to engage with the province of Nova Sco a about the lead and zinc mine in her village have disap‐peared. But speaking at a press conference in Halifax on Wednesday, Gagne argued that the biggest loser in this deal is government.

"For this ny amount of mon‐ey, Environment Canada is shoo ng itself in the foot," she said, explaining that paid bu‐reaucrats are obligated to use taxpayers' re‐sources to re‐spond to all ci zens' correspondence and con‐cerns. "NSEN [Nova Sco a Environmental Net‐work] has shown us how to approach govern‐ment and community in an intelligent way."

Gagne said that with support from NSEN, she and her neighbours formed the Gay's River Val‐ley Environmental Protec on Associa on, and have been working to ensure the lead and zinc mine operates strictly within regula ons of the Departments of Natural Resources and the Envi‐ronment.

The (Reseau) Canadian Environmental Network (RCEN) was established in 1977 to promote and streamline environmental work being done by grassroots organiza ons and to provide Canadians working on the ground a pla orm for engagement with Environment Canada and their provincial de‐partments.

In fact, RCEN plays a cri cal role in democra c pol‐icy‐building in Canada, func oning as the formal‐ized mechanism for federally‐legislated stakehold‐er consulta ons on environmental policy and pro‐jects; "meaningful public par cipa on" is called for

in the Canadian Envi‐ronmental Assessment Act.

The cuts amount to $547,000‐‐the en re core budget for the O awa office, the 10 provincial networks and the Yukon net‐work. Nova Sco a's al‐lotment‐‐based on pop‐ula on‐‐would have been $18,000.

In an October 13 le er to RECN, Environment Canada's Nancy Rob‐erts wrote that the de‐cision to cut RCEN's

funding "reflects a broader shi away from provid‐ing core organiza onal funding...as part of Envi‐ronment Canada's ongoing efforts to allocate its resources in the most efficient and cost‐effec ve manner possible."

This cut was announced a er le ng the network run all fiscal year under the guise that it would be funded. Environment Canada sent a le er of intent to RCEN in August, which stated that RCEN's funding was

Jim Dresher, sustainable woodlot operator, discusses forestry with Nova Sco a's Minister of the Environment Sterling Belliveau in 2009. The minister spoke at NSEN's 2009 AFG, held at Dresher's Windhorse Farm

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VOL UME 11 ISSUE 3 Page 19

coming. A er receiving Roberts’s le er on the 13th, RCEN announced that its staff would be laid off as of the following day.

"For 30 years, the federal Minister of the Environ‐ment came to our AGMs...and there was lots of me to engage with our members," said NSEN Ad‐

visor Sheila Cole. "Only since the current majority Conserva ve government does the minister not come to our mee ngs, or even answer our calls."

Simultaneously, while a press conference was being held in Halifax on October 19 by NSEN and associat‐ed environmental groups to address the Harper government's $547,000 cutback to grassroots envi‐ronmental work across the country, congratula ons were being handed out to Nova Sco a's Irving ship‐yards whom the federal government awarded $25 billion dollars to build Canada's new war ships.

The panelists at the NSEN press conference weren't buying the government’s fiscal reasoning that cu ng funding to environmental networks across Canada would save Environment Canada and Cana‐dians money.

The RCEN member groups represent some 630,000 ac ve individuals and 98 per cent of the work done in the networks is voluntary.

Janelle Frail, director of Nova Sco a's network, says, "Our annual mee ng with the province is hugely beneficial to them: instead of having to or‐ganize 60 mee ngs, they have one."

"The knowledge, resources and exper se amassed by 647 environmental groups over 34 years is price‐less‐‐you can't buy it," said Cole. "This is the best possible value Environment Canada could ever find.” NSEN is an ACIC member.

Oxfam Canada Reorganizing Staffing, Structures and Programs Oxfam Canada is reorganizing its staffing, structures and programs beginning this spring and con nuing through 2013‐2014. Oxfam’s goal is to become more sustainable and resilient and to align re‐sources to have even more impact and influence in Canada and in overseas programs. To achieve these changes, Oxfam Canada will have fewer staff, fewer offices, lower costs and greater specializa on in women’s rights. Every Oxfam department is affected by these organi‐za onal changes. Staff posi ons have been cut in every department with the excep on of Fund Devel‐opment. Over the next 2 years most of Oxfam’s fundraising staff will be relocated to the O awa office. The out‐reach office in the Prairies will close in March 2013. Oxfam will reduce its staff presence in the At‐lan c Provinces from 2 to 1 by June 30, 2012 and will reduce it again in March of 2014. Oxfam will con n‐ue to have staff in O awa, Toronto and Vancouver. For more informa on on this reorganiza on, please see the Board Communiqué posted to the Oxfam website: h p://www.oxfam.ca/sites/default/files/Board%20Communiqué%202012%20Feb.pdf

Oxfam Mari mes

By: Olivia McDonald As a third year Public Rela ons student at Mount Saint Vincent University in Halifax, NS I am required to complete three mandatory co‐op placements upon gradua on. For my second co‐op I was lucky enough to be the successful applicant for the Communica ons Coordinator posi on with the Atlan c Council for Interna‐onal Coopera on. While the Ac ve‐8! Campaign was

included in my job descrip on, what became of it was not. Li le did any of us know, I was about to have the best co‐op experience of my life. The Ac ve‐8! Campaign is in its third year with funding support from the Canadian Interna onal Development Agency. It kicked off during Interna onal Development Week (February 5‐11) and ran un l the last day of the month of February. This year, we had eight excep‐onal Youth Ambassadors

from all across the Atlan c. By province they were: Rebecca MacDonald & Paul Manning – Nova Sco a Kandace Hagen & Jordan MacPhee – Prince Edward Island Anna Fricker & Tara Brinston – New Brunswick Deg Nath Neaupaney & Elena Fenrick – Newfoundland and Labrador Each youth brought a separate passion to the table, topics ranging from agricultural sustainability, cultural acceptance, women’s rights to the disability movement. Similar to other years, individuals could log onto the Ac ve‐8! website and submit their pledge of ac on. As an Ac ve‐8 ambassador, each of the youth were asked to gather commitments of ac on from their friends, rela‐ves, colleagues and the general public. Pledges ranged

from “I will turn the lights off when I leave the room” to “I will volunteer overseas”, each one making an important

impact on the world. However, this year’s campaign stood out from previous ones. Reaching an interna onal audience, grabbing na onal media a en on, causing overnight internet frenzy and pu ng people in disarray from far and wide all became the headlines of the uproar that was to follow. As a public rela ons professional I was in my glory. People around the office were beginning to ques on my sanity as my excitement grew with each angry email – I couldn’t help it, it’s what I’m trained to do! Let me back up a li le bit. For those of you who were unaware of the controversy that arose from this campaign, let me explain.

All was going according to plan, the campaign was reaching its expected audience, the pledges were trickling in and the campaign was on the back burner as other work demanded our a en on. With only two weeks le , a woman from PEI represen ng the PEI Right to Life Associa on, sent out an email to a na onal pro‐life mailing list encouraging people to pledge for the Youth Ambassador who was in second place (Tara Brinston) to overthrow Kandace Hagen (first place

at the me). Kandace advocates for abor on rights on PEI, the only province in Canada that doesn’t allow legalized abor ons – even though it’s wri en in the Charter of Rights and Freedom. Tara’s passion is the disability movement. She works for an organiza on in Fredericton that helps support persons with intellectual disabili es. Suddenly, pledges from the US, UK, Europe, Australia and beyond started coming in. The campaign became an interna onal hot topic overnight. The pro‐life/pro‐choice debate got intertwined in our small east coast campaign. Things progressed and the pledges came pouring in for both Tara and Kandace.

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Ac ve‐8! Campaign 2012

RENDEZ-VOUS

All eight Youth Ambassadors from le to right; Back —Anna Frick‐er, Deg Nath Neaupaney, Paul Manning and Jordan MacPhee Front— Tara Brinston, Kandace Hagen, Rebecca MacDonald and Elena Fenrick.

VOL UME 11 ISSUE 3 Page 21

Suddenly, people who have never even heard of the Mari mes were all about the Ac ve‐8! Campaign. As the public rela ons student it was my job, along with my colleagues, to help defuse the situa on. I kicked into full‐fledged crisis mode. News releases were sent, social media strategies were implemented, media consultants were contacted and long hours were spent in front of my textbooks looking for helpful hints on how to manage a crisis. Since my Crisis Communica ons class isn’t un l fourth year I went into this crisis unarmed, it was either sink or swim. Thankfully I have some pre y experienced professors who were able to help me manage the situa on and coach me along the way. At the end of the campaign people from all across the world were tuning in to find out who would be the winner of the 2012 Ac ve‐8! Campaign, even George Stroumboulopoulos and MacLean’s magazine were calling for answers! The top two contenders were each at over 1600 commitments of ac on at the final tally. Understanding how much hard work, pa ence and dedica on the two females put in over the month of February, ACIC decided to honour the two women as co‐champions. “I am honoured to have been a part of the Ac ve‐8! Campaign and to have been given the incredible opportunity to share my work and the work of the disability movement with Atlan c Canadians. It is inspiring and also quite amazing to me, that two young women were able to reach out and inspire over 3200 pledges of ac on in the area of social jus ce. How mo va ng to con nue to work toward a more diverse and inclusive society,” said Brinston, hailing from Fredericton, NB. “I am thoroughly grateful to have been given an opportunity to work with seven inspiring Atlan c youth,” said Hagen. “I am overwhelmed with the level of support shown for my work on access to reproduc ve choice. I am

truly amazed at the level of support shown to all candidates,” said the Charlo etown, PEI na ve. ACIC was praised by their final decision to award the two young leaders as co‐champions, proving that by working together, and standing in solidarity anything is possible. ACIC wants to thank all eight of our amazing Youth Ambassadors and provincial leads. Together they solicited over 4200 pledges of ac on for a be er world, in one month. The total amount of pledges received this year almost surpasses the collec ve total from the last two years combined. ACIC is proud of everyone who took part in this campaign and wants to acknowledge the tremendous effort put in by all. Keep standing up for what you believe

in and know that you made a difference. Olivia McDonald is the Communica ons Coordinator for the Atlan c Council for Interna onal Coopera on. She is a third year Public Rela ons student from Mount Saint Vincent University in Halifax, NS.

Co‐champions Tara Brinston (le ) and Kandace Hagen (right) at the Ac ve‐8 press conference in Charlo etown, PE March 5.

Ac ve‐8! Campaign 2012

By: Fraser Reilly‐King—Canadian Council for Interna onal Coopera on Busan and the Fourth High‐Level Forum on Aid Effec veness (HLF‐4) were in many ways a seminal moment for civil society. Three years prior, at the HLF‐3 in Accra, civil society was recognized as “independent development actors in their own right.” This was an important step in and of itself, recognizing that civil society organiza ons (CSOs) weren’t just service delivery agents, but also aid donors, intermediaries and recipients, develop‐ment actors se ng their own priori es, programs and partnerships, and agents of change. With this recogni on, Accra also brought CSOs to the table as full members of the Working Party on Aid Effec veness (WP‐Eff), an informal mul ‐stakeholder grouping that has led the High Level Forum process. But to maintain credibility and legi macy in the demands they made of governments, CSOs were also forced to pursue efforts to reflect on their own accountability and to enhance their own develop‐ment policy and prac ce. Cue the Istanbul Principles. Over two and a half years, through more than 70 na onal consulta ons with 3500 organiza ons, a set of eight principles emerged to guide CSOs in their development policy and prac ce: human rights, gender equality and equity, democra c ownership, environmental sustainability, transparency and accountability, equitable partnership, knowledge crea on and mutual learning, and posi ve sustainable change. CSOs also developed an Interna onal Framework to

guide implementa on of the Istanbul Principles and a set of minimum standards for the enabling environment – a prerequisite for CSOs to be able to realize their full poten al as development actors. At first glance, the eight principles are perhaps not that surprising. They are the sort of principles that one might expect from civil society. But what makes them remarkable is the extent to which the same core set of principles emerged in each consulta on across different countries, regions and organiza ons. It was a genuine CSO agenda. Which brings us to Busan.

Where donors had the Paris Declara‐on and Accra

Agenda for Ac on, civil society came to HLF4 with their own set of Principles. Numer‐ous governments

endorsed the Principles, including the host South Ko‐rea and US Secretary of State, Hilary Clinton, and the final Global Partnership for Effec ve Development Coopera on referenced them. And although it didn’t go as far as we would have liked, governments commi ed (again) to establishing an enabling environment, “consistent with interna onal agreed rights.” Furthermore, while CSOs largely had to make their voice heard from the outside in Accra, in Busan civil society had 300 representa ves as full par cipants in the Forum. We had representa ves at the opening and closing plenaries, on key panels, and a CSO Sherpa nego a ng the final outcome document – a first for civil society.

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In search of the higher ground ‐ Civil society and the Istanbul Principles

Con nued on next page

At the end of the process, we had demonstrated that we not only had a right to be at the table, but that we deserved to be there. But now – as is true of the whole Busan Partnership – the proof is in the pudding. Everything comes down to implementa on. To maintain our credibility in the process, civil society needs to put the Istanbul Principles into prac ce and clearly document and demonstrate progress. This is in fact where CSOs could gain the moral high ground given how poorly donors have been in implemen ng Paris ‐ at the global level, only one of the 13 targets established by donors for 2010 to measure the implementa on of aid effec veness commitments has been met, and just barely. In Canada, the Canadian Council for Interna onal Coopera on is working with seven Provincial and Regional Councils to improve the prac ce of our more than 200 members. In 2012 we are mapping the best and most innova ve prac ces of our membership and rela ng this prac ce to each of the Istanbul Principles. Beyond highligh ng the excellent stewardship already underway among Canada’s development community, CCIC an cipates that we will find gaps within our members’ prac ce – gaps that we can work to fill through new policies and innova ve ideas and programs. We are also developing public educa on materials to socialize the Principles within Canada, and through next year we will be developing some workshop modules on two or three of the Principles that will help organiza ons translate a set of global norms into concrete specific organiza onal change and be er development outcomes. Ul mately, we see the Istanbul Principles as a way to talk about just how complex development actually is – and to highlight how CSOs are working in partner‐

ship with people and communi es to tackle some of these complexi es and to change and improve both the lives and sustainable livelihoods of the poorest and most marginalized. But we also hope it means telling the Canadian public a story of development that moves their understanding beyond one of charity to one of jus‐ce, and from addressing the symptoms of poverty to

tackling the root causes. We think it is a story worth telling.

Fraser Reilly‐King is a Policy Analyst with the Canadian Council

for Interna onal Co‐opera on. He is on the Coordina ng Group

of the Be er Aid Pla orm, the Civil Society member of the Work‐

ing Party on Aid Effec veness. He was in Busan for HLF‐4. The

opinions expressed are his own.

The Nova Scotia‐Gambia Association will hold its 27th An‐

nual African Dinner, Auction and Dance on Saturday May

12th at the Loyola Conference Hall, Saint Mary's

University.

It will be a special evening of storytelling, dance and a deli‐

cious three course African Dinner. Tickets are $75 /$65 for

students or $650 for table of 10. Available from NSGA at:

· 1574 Argyle Street, Suite 17, Halifax, B3J 2B3 · Telephone 423‐1360 · Email info@novascotiagambia.ca. COME: enjoy, celebrate and support, health education programs in The Gambia. Your support is truly appreciated.

Istanbul Principles cont...

Page 23 VOL UME 9 ISSUE 2

Atlan c Centre for Excellence in Women’s Health Canada World Youth / Jeunesse Canada Monde Canadian Crossroads Interna onal / Carrefour Canadien Interna onal Canadian Red Cross CAUSE Canada Centre for Nursing Studies—Interna onal Office Chalice Convergence Consul ng Solu ons Atlan c Coady Interna onal Ins tute College of the North Atlan c—Interna onal Programs Office Community Forests Interna onal Conserva on Council of New Brunswick Cooper Ins tute CUPE Global Jus ce Commi ee Cuso Interna onal Development and Peace (CCODP) Ecology Ac on Centre Falls Brook Centre Global Health Office, Faculty of Medicine, Dalhousie University GPI Atlan c Interna onal Family Farm Exchange (Farmers Helping Farmers) Interna onal Research & Development (Dalhousie) Ins tute of Island Studies—UPEI Just Us! Development Educa on Society (JUDES) Ka mavik Memorial University—Interna onal Office Mennonite Central Commi ee, Mari mes Mikinduri Children of Hope MI Interna onal, Marine Ins tute Mount Allison University Mount Saint Vincent University Newfoundland/Labrador Federa on of Coopera ves New Brunswick Environmental Network Nova Sco a Agricultural College Nova Sco a Community College Nova Sco a Environmental Network

Nova Sco a Gambia Associa on Nova Sco a Public Interest Research Group (NSPIG) Oxfam Canada Peaceful Schools Interna onal PEI Environmental Network Saint Mary’s University—Interna onal Office Salutary Angels/Les Anges Bienfaisents Sierra Club of Canada—Atlan c Canada Chapter Tatamagouche Centre The United Church of Canada Mari me Conference University of New Brunswick (Fredericton) University of New Brunswick (Saint John) Wheatley River Improvement Group WUSC YMCA Canada East

Individual Members

Andrew MacDonald

Andrea Papan

Catherine Ronahan

Clare Levin

Dr. Cris an Suteanu

Crystal R. Baird

David Co on

Ella Tetrault

Don Fraser

Joanna Marshall‐Forgie

Holly Langille

Kathy Moulton

Kathleen Cooper

Mary Rigby

Lisa Lachance

Robin Campbell

Nora McCarthy

Shanta Neupane

Sarah Mills

ACIC MEMBER ORGANIZATIONS

ATLANTIC COUNCIL FOR INTERNATIONAL

COOPERATION CONSEIL ATLANTIQUE

Ph/Tél: (902) 431-2311 Fax/Téléc: (902) 431-3216

Email: admin@acic-caci.org Website: www.acic-caci.org

The views expressed by the

publication are not necessarily those of ACIC or its members.

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Volume 11 Issue 3

Spring 2012

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