Strengthening Parliaments for Development: 4th Africa-Canada Dialogue targets Aid Effectiveness

Canada has committed to spending 0.7% of its GDP on foreign aid, much of it in Africa. How do Canadians know whether these funds actually reduce poverty and provide the services that Africans need? To address this question, the 2006 Africa-Canada Parliamentary Dialogue brought together MPs from eleven African countries to interact with their Canadian counterparts. The Dialogue improved knowledge of aid effectiveness and concluded that parliaments must do more to increase mutual accountability for development result.

The Role of Parliamentarians in HIV/AIDS Oversight
Third Africa-Canada Parliamentary Policy Dialogue (Saly, September 12-15, 2005)

Africa-Canada Parliamentary Policy Dialogues bring together African and Canadian parliamentarians to examine issues of common concern. They are discussions among peers that tap into their expertise and foster relationships among them for ongoing exchange, all with the aim of improving parliamentary oversight in crucial areas of public policy. Held again under the auspices of the Africa-Canada Parliamentary Strengthening Program (ACPSP), the 2005 Policy Dialogue took place in Saly, Senegal, where eight Canadian parliamentarians and thirteen African MPs from eight countries ( Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa and Uganda) assembled to examine their roles in the fight against HIV/AIDS. More ...

Official opening of our Dakar regional office

With the expansion of our ACPSP activities in French-speaking Africa and given the increased level of exchanges and partnerships, notably in Francophone West African countries, the Parliamentary Centre has moved to set up a regional office in Dakar, Senegal. The new office was officially opened on Tuesday, April 19, 2005, in the presence of Her Excellency Louise Marchand, Canadian ambassador in Senegal, as well as members of the Africa Program steering committee, civil society and international organization representatives and several Senegalese M.P.’s. The Regional Office has the mandate to represent the Parliamentary Centre in French-speaking West African countries and to offer a dedicated support to ACPSP activities in the sub-region. More ...

Kenya Hosts Symposium on Training Parliamentary Staff

Parliaments are not composed solely of MPs. Knowledgeable, skilled and motivated staff members are essential for parliamentarians to be able to perform their duties effectively. The National Assembly of Kenya knows this and they are working with the Parliamentary Centre to develop a comprehensive staff training program. The program’s design is based on research, interviews and on ideas that were brought forward at a recent symposium. The Regional Symposium on Parliamentary Staff Training developed training strategies for Kenya and expanded co-operation among the legislatures of East Africa in this area of institutional strengthening. More…

Parliaments and Corporate Social Responsibility: Widening the Rift Valley Dialogue

“May it be in the best spirit of harambee that parliamentarians pull together to strengthen CSR for the benefit of the people and communities they represent.”

In Kenya, people had a slogan for pulling together and that slogan was harambee. Harambee was a call to cooperate in the name of national development. Today, communities and their leaders are pulling together across borders and from across oceans to address political, social, economic and environmental issues of mutual concern. One such cross-cutting issue is corporate social responsibility, or CSR. Click here to learn about CSR in the natural resources sector and how African and Canadian parliamentarians are working to identify and perform their roles in improving and promoting CSR.

Ghana Parliamentary Committee Support Project II Underway

The second phase of the Ghana Parliamentary Committee Support Project obtained its final approval from CIDA in June 2004. Building on a decade of partnership between the Parliamentary Centre and the Parliament of Ghana, the GPCSPII aims to strengthen accountability, transparency and participation in the Parliamentary governance of Ghana, with particular attention to achieving more effective poverty-reduction efforts in the country by strengthening related key parliamentary committees. Full Report

Africa-Canada Parliamentary Strengthening Program Supports Constitutional Reform Conference in Uganda

Women’s representation in Parliament in Uganda has so far been relatively high, due to the movement political system and the affirmative action of reserved seats. The pending introduction of political pluralism alerted women to the danger of losing their current level of Parliamentary representation due to political competition. Full Report