Elvina Prasad and Shania Sharma
The Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) is an organization that administers foreign aid programs to developing countries, and operates in partnership with other Canadian organizations in the public and private sectors as well as other international organizations.
It was formed in 1968 by the Canadian government under Pierre Trudeau. In March 2013, the Conservative government announced that CIDA would be folded into the Department of Foreign Affairs, and the organizations renamed as the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development.
CIDA reported to the Parliament of Canada through the minister for International Cooperation. Its mandate was to "support sustainable development in developing countries in order to reduce poverty and contribute to a more secure, equitable, and prosperous world."
CIDA has its headquarters at 200 Promenade du Portage in Gatineau, Quebec.
Recipients of Canada’s Development Aid have previously included Ethiopia, Haiti, Tanzania, Afghanistan, Ghanda, Sudan, Mozambique and Pakistan.
It was formed in 1968 by the Canadian government under Pierre Trudeau. In March 2013, the Conservative government announced that CIDA would be folded into the Department of Foreign Affairs, and the organizations renamed as the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development.
CIDA reported to the Parliament of Canada through the minister for International Cooperation. Its mandate was to "support sustainable development in developing countries in order to reduce poverty and contribute to a more secure, equitable, and prosperous world."
CIDA has its headquarters at 200 Promenade du Portage in Gatineau, Quebec.
Recipients of Canada’s Development Aid have previously included Ethiopia, Haiti, Tanzania, Afghanistan, Ghanda, Sudan, Mozambique and Pakistan.
To Paven Sanghera, Senior Advisor, Department of Developing Nations
From Elvina Prasad and Shania Sharma, Deputy Director, Canadian International Developing Agency
Re: Selection of the most suitable country for Canadian Development Aid
Today we will decide whether we will invest 100 million dollars in economically assisting Nepal or Somalia
From Elvina Prasad and Shania Sharma, Deputy Director, Canadian International Developing Agency
Re: Selection of the most suitable country for Canadian Development Aid
Today we will decide whether we will invest 100 million dollars in economically assisting Nepal or Somalia
Nepal's Background InformationNepal, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked sovereign state located in South Asia. With an area of 147,181 square kilometres and a population of approximately 27 million (and nearly 2 million workers living abroad), Nepal is the world's 93rd largest country by land mass and the 41st most populated country. It is located in the Himalayas and bordered to the north by the People's Republic of China, and to the south, east, and west by the Republic of India. Specifically, the Indian states of Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, and Sikkim border Nepal, while across the Himalayas lies the Tibetan Autonomous Region. Nepal is separated from Bangladesh by the narrow Indian Siliguri corridor. Kathmandu is the nation's capital and largest metropolis.
The mountainous north of Nepal has eight of the world's ten tallest mountains, including the highest point on Earth, Mount Everest, in Nepali. It contains more than 240 peaks over 20,000 ft (6,096 m) above sea level. The southern Terai region is fertile and humid. Lumbini, the birthplace of Lord Gautam Buddha, is located in this region. Lumbini is one of the holiest places of one of the world's great religions, and its remains contain important evidence about the nature of Buddhist pilgrimage centres from as early as the 3rd century BC. Hinduism is practiced by about 81.3% of Nepalis, making it the country with the highest percentage of Hindus. Buddhism is linked historically with Nepal and is practiced by 12%, Kirat 5.1%, Islam by 4.4%, Christianity 1.4%, and animism 0.4%. A large section of the population, especially in hill region, even though they follow Hindu customs, may identify themselves as both Hindu as well as Buddhists which can be attributed to syncretic nature of Hinduism and Buddhism in Nepal. A monarchy throughout most of its history, Nepal was ruled by the Shah dynasty of kings from 1768 , when Prithvi Narayan Shah unified its many small kingdoms, until 2008; a decade-long Civil War involving the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) (Now known as the Unified Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist)) and several weeks of mass protests by all major political parties led to the 12-point agreement of 22 November 2005. The ensuing elections for the constituent assembly on 28 May 2008 overwhelmingly favored the abolition of the monarchy and the establishment of a federal multiparty representative democratic republic. In recent developments, the political parties of Nepal have agreed on forming an interim government under the leadership of Chief Justice Khil Raj Regmi in order to hold Constituent Assembly elections by 19 November 2013 to end the political deadlock. The second election for the constituent assembly was held successfully and Sushil Koirala was appointed the new prime minister. In 2013, Nepal ranked the 157th place on the Human Development Index (HDI) and is one of the least developed nations in the entire world. Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nepal |
Somalia's Background InformationSomalia, officially the Federal Republic of Somalia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is bordered by Ethiopia to the west, Djibouti to the northwest, the Gulf of Aden to the north, the Indian Ocean to the east, and Kenya to the southwest. Somalia has the longest coastline on the continent's mainland,and its terrain consists mainly of plateaus, plains and highlands. Climatically, hot conditions prevail year-round, with periodic monsoon winds and irregular rainfall.
Somalia has a population of around 10 million. About 85% of residents are ethnic Somalis, who have historically inhabited the northern part of the country. Ethnic minorities make up the remainder and are largely concentrated in the southern regions. The official languages of Somalia are Somali and Arabic, both of which belong to the Afro-Asiatic family. Most people in the country are Muslim, with the majority being Sunni. In antiquity, Somalia was an important commercial centre, and is among the most probable locations of the fabled ancient Land of Punt. During the Middle Ages, several powerful Somali empires dominated the regional trade, including the Ajuran State, the Adal Sultanate, the Warsangali Sultanate, and the Geledi Sultanate. In the late 19th century, through a succession of treaties with these kingdoms, the British and Italians gained control of parts of the coast and established the colonies of British Somaliland and Italian Somaliland. In the interior, Muhammad Abdullah Hassan's Dervish State successfully repelled the British Empire four times and forced it to retreat to the coastal region, The Dervishes were finally defeated in 1920 by British airpower. Italy acquired full control of the northeastern and southern parts of the area after successfully waging the so-called Campaign of the Sultanates against the ruling Majeerteen Sultanate and Sultanate of Hobyo. Italian occupation lasted until 1941, yielding to British military administration. Northern Somalia would remain a protectorate, while southern Somalia became a United Nations Trusteeship in 1949. In 1960, the two regions united to form the independent Somali Republic under a civilian government. Mohamed Siad Barre seized power in 1969 and established the Somali Democratic Republic. In 1991, Barre's government collapsed as the Somali Civil War broke out. In the absence of a central government, Somalia's residents reverted to local forms of conflict resolution. A few autonomous regions, including the Somaliland, Puntland and Galmudug administrations, emerged in the north in the ensuing process of decentralization. The early 2000s saw the creation of fledgling interim federal administrations. The Transitional National Government (TNG) was established in 2000, followed by the formation of the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) in 2004, which reestablished national institutions such as the military. In 2006, the TFG, assisted by Ethiopian troops, assumed control of most of the nation's southern conflict zones from the newly formed Islamic Courts Union (ICU). The ICU subsequently splintered into more radical groups such as Al-Shabaab, which battled the TFG and its AMISOM allies for control of the region, with the insurgents losing most of the territory that they had seized by mid-2012. In 2011–2012, a political process providing benchmarks for the establishment of permanent democratic institutions was launched. Within this administrative framework a new provisional constitution was passed in August 2012 which reformed Somalia as a federation. Following the end of the TFG's interim mandate the same month, the Federal Government of Somalia, the first permanent central government in the country since the start of the civil war, was formed. The nation has concurrently experienced a period of intense reconstruction, particularly in the capital, Mogadishu. Through the years, Somalia has maintained an informal economy, based mainly on livestock, remittances, and telecommunications. Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somalia |
