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The process of engaging the Canadian public for international aid contributes to promoting global citizenship among the population. Canadians become aware of Canada’s international aid efforts, including the Feminist International Assistance Policy and, more broadly, of Canada’s contributions to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Ultimately, by better understanding how local issues relate to global issues, Canadians will be inclined to take actions that will contribute to a peaceful, prosperous and inclusive world.

The PE Toolkit is a collaborative and evergreen platform to support Canadian organizations that want to engage Canadians on global issues. It has been designed for a wide audience of practitioners, regardless of their level of familiarity with the field of public engagement. The tools and resources presented in this package have been developed by Global Affairs Canada, Canadian partners, other federal entities and international organizations.

Global Affairs Canada is very pleased to share with you the Productive Partnerships for Transition Guidance Note, now available on Global Affairs Canada’s webpage. This note forms part of a suite of innovation and effectiveness guidance that has been developed to shift our international assistance processes and practices to support the operationalization of the Feminist International Assistance Policy.

This guidance note articulates why Canada delivers international assistance in middle income countries, and provides guidance on establishing and advancing productive partnerships for transition in middle income countries.

Insights given at the November 2020 knowledge sharing event have helped to shape this guidance. This guidance note has also benefited greatly from decades of knowledge and experience working in these contexts, both from within Global Affairs and from other stakeholders.

Huge effort is required to write a winning funding proposal for a development project; the competition is usually stiff. After the hard work put in, it is demoralizing to come up short. This resource will help you:

• Find a donor and the right funding mechanism
• Decide on the best bid opportunities
• Make the strongest case possible

Watch this video from ACGC’s Together 2018 Conference, where CAIDP offered a skills workshop on securing funds. 

During International Development Week (Feb 2-8) in 2020, ACGC members attended an information session with representative Vaughn Lantz from Global Affairs Canada. The event provided insight into questions frequently asked by Global Affairs Canada’s partners and potential partners. See below for the presentation slides.

English Slides
French Slides

Global Affairs Canada has an International Assistance Results Reporting Guide for Partners. The guide will help Global Affairs Canada partners report on funded projects with clear, and evidence-based reports on results, which meet the standards for results reporting of the Government of Canada.

The Trebi Kuma Ollennu Foundation for Community Development (TKOFCD) stands in solidarity with people of African descent and all lovers of justice to decry the unjust treatment meted out to George Floyd, brutally assaulted and ‘murdered’ at the hands of a police officer in Minneapolis, USA. TKOFCD, an organisation founded by people of African descent and involved in international development, we value and recognise as utmost importance that human dignity relates to the very quality of being human. We are therefore devastated by the trampling of George Floyd’s humanity.

What is George Floyd
George Floyd’s neck symbolises the spirit of the African race. And this ‘spirit’ will dismantle the falsity of racism and dehumanisation of people of African descent. “And his breath, as an overflowing stream, shall reach to the middle of the neck, sift the nations with the sieve of vanity.” (Isaiah 30:28).
George Floyd neck represents the influx of truth that speaks to economic injustice against the African race. It castigates false postures, hypocrisy, and the greed of dominant economic and political powers.

Why George Floyd
Because we have faked enough. Because we have pretended enough. The band aids are falling off. How Much is George Floyd Now you know. He is more than a city. He is more than a country. He is more than a race. He is more than all the military might employed to resist ‘him’ in demonstrations of solidarity in cities around the world. He is freedom rising from the ashes of oppression. How much is justice?

What Shall You Do?
Take a mirror, the one that searches souls and weigh yours. Talking about it is not enough. Demonstrations are not enough. The African race cannot breathe because of systemic inaccessibility to economic power through the use of systemic decision making processes by architects of local, national, and multinational economies. TKOFCD is calling for the de-racialization of economic systems that favour particular races. This is the most effective way of dismantling institutional racism in North America and the rest of the
world. George Floyd continues to speak until all racialized aspects of economic and political systems are dismantled in both the USA and Canada.

Flora Trebi-Ollennu
President (TKOFCD)

Visit TKOFCD’s Facebook Page

I am saying this (unedited):

I am horrified. But I am not afraid. I fear no one. I do not know George Floyd. He is a distant neighbour. And I love my neighbour as myself.

We agonize and travail in prayer over the apparent inhumanity that caused his death. We grieve George Floyd deeply. In him, we each see a part of ourselves. Our frail humanity. Red or Yellow, Black and White. This could have been anyone.

The knee on the neck of George Floyd chokes us all, no matter the colour of our skin or else.

Such breathtaking tactics are used everywhere and kill us all. Such practices are used by so called officers of colour (or those of no colour at all) on their own peoples everywhere too. Not only that, officers everywhere have a knee on their necks too!

The knee of the system is on all our necks! Extremists are on our necks. Poverty is on our necks. Jihadist are on our necks, the virus is on our neck….“can’t breathe”
The poor, the homeless and the naked feel that knee on their necks. The Martyr feel that knee….the wrongly convicted feel that knee…
We all need to catch our breath. It is not a matter of law and order. It is much deeper.

Law and order is only the symptoms. It behooves each to address what is underneath.The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?
It behooves us all to make a moral inventory of ourselves and re-examine our fears and phobias. Our fears of else.

In a space so fearful, doubtful and full of suspicion… it behooves us all to decrease the level of anxiety in our homes, our work places and streets. It behooves us all to decrease the level of anxiety in our governments, leadership, parenting and education. Non anxious presence heals the world. “Non anxious presence.” Especially now.

We uphold the sanctity of every life. Christ gave us the ministry of reconciliation. Let’s make sure our character stands up to our creed.

I want to participate in a peaceful march for unity so bad right now. A March with all people of all colour. A March that builds, not one that demolishes. A March with all our police officers, city leaders, politicians, people of all faith or no faith at all, in our city. I want this so bad. And we are under Important Health orders, Social Distancing policies! Lord, only to dramatize our Oneness. What unites us is more than what separates us.

Lord, if only our character would stand up to our creed…

Like you, I pray for the day where we would judge people by the content of their character instead of the colour of their skin. In fact, let me tell you: beyond the appearance, I am a person of colour: I am black to the black. I am white to the white. Everyone is my family. We all bleed RED.

Still, I believe: In Christ, there is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, black or white, male and female, for we are all one in Christ Jesus. (Paul, Galatians 3).
Our manyess makes us one. Our Manyness—however colourful (like a rainbow) makes us whole and mighty on the horizons of despair, restores our breath. I am because of who we all are.’ There is a need for understanding not vengeance. Ubuntu, not victimization.

The words of John bring me hope. He says: After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. ( JOHN, Revelation 7:9)

Brother Floyd now joins that multitude above, with all the saints and angels in the Presence of God.

So I pray with Saint Francis: Lord, make me an instrument of your peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love; Where there is injury, pardon; Where there is doubt, faith; Where there is despair, hope; Where there is darkness, light; Where there is sadness, joy; O Divine Master, Grant that I may not so much seek To be consoled as to console; To be understood as to understand; To be loved as to love.

Towards unfeigned Love, Still Becoming, Always, Daniel Zopoula

Visit Bridges of Hope’s Website

The Sinkunia Community Development Organization has for years been fighting Racism, Discrimination and all forms of social injustice in our communities. The organization has championed Anti-Racism conversations with Black Canadian Youth and families. It empowers and encourages them to stand up and join the fight against racism, human rights violations and social exclusion based on race, religion and ethnicity. 

Sinkunia Community Development Organization strongly condemns the widespread police brutality and crack down on peaceful demonstrators following the senseless killing of George Floyd in the hands of the Minneapolis Police. Silencing peaceful protests through police brutality amounts to bullying which can be another form of racism and discrimination. The Police Force is responsible for the protection of life and not kill those they are meant to protect. This is exactly what is happening in the US at the moment. 

People are being treated differently because of the colour of their skin, language or simply because they are from a different race. We strongly believe in the values of equality and justice for all. We recognise that institutional racism is pervasive throughout our societies. We condemn racism in all forms and in all places, including the highest levels of government.

Racism is dangerous because it can affect the health of the individual experiencing the racism. It can lead to suicide and many other negative impacts. IT can happen. IT has happened numerous times. And it will continue to happen if we don’t stand up against it. 

As Global Citizens, we have to stand up against racism and not take the abuse. Freedom and living happily is for all humanity and not just for a few privileged individuals. We all have a responsibility to educate others by engaging and involving them in the fight against racism and promoting acceptance. Challenge the stereo-type and do not accept to be part of the negativity. Promote the dismantling of racism in a factual and responsible manner.

We are committed to work with other individuals, organizations, and communities to dismantle racism in all forms and in all institutions in our society. Hence, the need for our current anti-racism project aimed at changing the mindset of our youngest generation. We also support creating partnerships between the community and police to build trust and understanding, set up civilian oversight boards to review police practices and must be empowered to independently investigate police conduct. This oversight board must be multi-racial in its composition and outlook.  

We want people to live in harmony and enjoy the diversity within us through out the world. No human being should be made to feel inferior or different. We are all humans and we must enjoy the same rights under the law of the land as constituted. Know Your Right. 

We support and stand in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter Movement. We believe that all lives matter but the Black Lives Matter Movement reminds us that black lives have not mattered enough, as evidenced by systemic racial bias throughout our communities. We need to take a holistic approach to evaluate and repair the harm caused by our systemic racist policies and actions. As a country, we must implement policies that assure that victims of racism have real opportunity in all facets of life and work. 

The Sinkunia Community Development Organization will continue our fight against racism by promoting anti-racism conversations that empower individuals, organizations and institutions to build a more equitable and just societies. 

Our heartfelt condolences to the Floyd Family and Families of all our brothers and sisters in incarceration and brutally murdered by the police force.

Please visit our website @ www.sinkuniacommunity.org to learn more about our anti-racism work in the community.

Issa Kamara
Executive Director
Sinkunia Community Development Org.

June 4th 2020

We would like to begin by acknowledging that we are on Treaty 6 territory, the ancestral and traditional territory of the Cree, Dene, Blackfoot, Saulteaux, Nakota Sioux, and the Métis, whose footsteps have marked these lands for generations. 

SCERDO stands in solidarity with #BlackLivesMatter and all those who are protesting systematic brutalization at the hands of police. 

We at SCERDO are deeply troubled by the death of George Floyd at the hands of 4 Minneapolis police officers last week. We are equally horrified by subsequent acts of violence committed by police departments all across the United States against protesters seeking to make their voices heard against this injustice. 

George Floyd was a brother, son, father, friend and an important part of his communities in Houston and Minneapolis. His brutal murder is the latest in a long list of black people who have been executed by police officers in the US. 

Closer to home, the tragic death of 29-year-old Regis Korchinski-Paquet, who fell from her apartment balcony in Toronto in the presence of police, is forcing Canadians to ask questions of our own about interactions between the police and indigenous and black Canadians. 

The officers who robbed George Floyd of his life must be brought to justice along with providing justice for all those who have been affected by police brutality and racism. 

We would also like to take this time to acknowledge and stand in solidarity with our fellow Indigenous and First Nations brothers and sisters, and the 1000+ missing and murdered indigenous women. 

It is not enough to be not racist. We must be actively anti-racist to work together towards bringing an end to the inhuman and unjust treatment of Black and Indigenous bodies. 

Ask questions, have conversations, spread love! WE STAND TOGETHER.

Defend. Amplify. Listen. Support.  #BLACKLIVESMATTER

Yassin Awalle
President, SCERDO

Visit SCERDO’s Website

The beauty of Canada is its diversity made up of people and cultures from all over the World.  Added to this is the freedom of association and religion as well as the peace loving and humble nature of Canadians.  Canada has given immigrants a warm welcome, a taste of citizenship and the accompanying benefits.  

Looking at the recent occurrences in the United States concerning the treatment of people of colour, we all have been conscientized to the fact that our world is indeed unbalanced and calls for drastic changes to how humanity relates to each other.  Whereas Canada has a very fair and concise set of rules of social engagement enshrined in the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, it takes citizens to practice the doctrines of equality before the law.  The education has to be preached to those who feel victimised and even to those who are seen as the villains.  It is important for society to understand that the colour of our skin is determined by much more intricate dictates of the universe which none of us can change.  Our strength as the human race is derived from the differences we bring.  The common pursuit of the human race should supersede all the artificial differences we might want to dwell on as being qualifiers to wealth, health and access to privilege.  

It is imperative for individuals to follow rules, to exhibit love and compassion towards their fellowmen, to seek to understand, and be willing to get to know the other.  Individuals need to want to understand and to educate themselves about the other person.  

Our values as a people are shaped by our environments. As such, when immigrants land in Canada, they come with their differences which might prove to be challenges as they try to assimilate into their new environment.  Barriers are experienced through language, culture, different educational credentials and other factors that make it impossible for people to be understood.

As society evolves, it is important for opportunities to be made available for cultures, races, tribes and community clusters to seek to understand and enhance each other in the pursuit of social cohesion as we aspire towards a united human race championing common goals.

Patricia Gumbo
Sihle-Sizwe Vineyard Foundation

Visit Sihle-Sizwe Vineyard Foundation’s Website

The Inter-Council Network, the coalition of Provincial and Regional Councils for International Cooperation (ICN) stands in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter Movement, and with Black, Indigenous and People of Colour (BIPOC) in our network, communities and globally that have been and are personally affected by systemic racism, discrimination and oppression.

We take this opportunity, brought about by immense grief, to demand action and accountability. We’re encouraged with the world listening to diverse voices but are cognizant that we need to do a lot more, as humanity, but also individuals and a network. We’re committed to listening, learning, and most importantly: change. We’re committed to anti-racism action, to addressing our internalized biases. We look forward to more diverse spaces and voices and to continued learning.

In the past few weeks, the eight Provincial and Regional Councils for International Cooperation have been reflecting and considering how their positions of power and privilege can be leveraged to effect change. 

As a national network of organizations and individuals working towards global social justice, universal sustainable development, and positive change, we join the millions around the world in affirming that Black Lives Matter.