(Chapter 4—Official Development Assistance through Multilateral Organizations—Spring 2013 Report of the Auditor General)
Ottawa, 30 April 2013—Departments responsible for providing official development assistance (ODA) to multilateral organizations have information on how ODA is delivered but reports to Parliament do not clearly reflect how aid is spent or results are achieved, says the Auditor General of Canada, Michael Ferguson, in his Spring 2013 report tabled today in Parliament. The audit focused on how government has followed the requirements of the Official Development Assistance Accountability Act and how it ensures that Canadian development priorities are reflected in spending through multilateral organizations.
“About $3 billion of the official development assistance spent in 2010–11 was channeled through multilateral organizations,” said Mr. Ferguson. “These organizations play a key role in delivering aid and fostering international cooperation.”
The Canadian International Development Agency, Finance Canada, and Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada recognize that they have a role in overseeing and promoting effective management within multilateral organizations. The audit found that departments have set priorities to guide their work with these organizations. They assess capacity, look at performance and conduct periodic reviews to ensure that the funding provided supports Canadian objectives.
Official development assistance provided to multilateral organizations has focused on poverty reduction. However, the documents reviewed during the audit did not identify how the assistance met the two other key conditions for providing this type of foreign aid—taking into account the perspectives of the poor, and being consistent with international human rights standards. Therefore it is unclear whether decision makers had all the information they needed to be assured that the conditions of the Act were being respected.
The audit also found that reports to Parliament contain limited information on how aid is spent and the results achieved. For example, departments report spending on aid in the year Canada pays out money to multilateral organizations. However, the organizations may not immediately use these funds to deliver aid. The lag between when Canada spends the money and when multilateral organizations deliver aid is not reflected in reports provided to Parliament.
“I am concerned that the information reported to Parliament is not giving a clear picture of the nature of spending on official development assistance,” said Mr. Ferguson. “Addressing the weaknesses noted in this audit could enhance the value of the information provided.”
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