Lesson 21 — Activity 1: Why Offer Foreign Aid?
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Lesson 21 — Activity 1: Why Offer
Foreign Aid?
Warm Up
Do you think it is important to help your friends or family if they were in need? What about other countries? Do you think Canada should help other countries who are in need? In this activity, you will learn what is meant by foreign aid and realize that it benefits both those offering the aid and those receiving it.
As you learned in the last lesson, life for many people in the world is very different from life in Canada. In many countries, people have to struggle to meet their basic needs of food, shelter, clothing, and clean water. Canada believes that, as a wealthy nation, it is our obligation to assist poor nations to improve the basic standard of living and quality of life for people. This is done through programs of foreign aid to undeveloped and developing countries. Foreign aid is offered in many ways and through many organizations.
Foreign Aid
Money, food, or other resources given or lent by one country to another country that is in need.
Canada helps developing nations around the world with foreign aid for several reasons. These include both humanitarian reasons and reasons that, in the long term, also benefit Canada and the world.
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Canada is a rich country that can afford to help others. Most people in Canada want to help people in other countries who are suffering.
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A poor country cannot participate in trade with Canada. As a country grows stronger and richer, Canada can begin to trade with this country.
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As conditions in developing countries improve, conditions become more stable and peaceful. Canadians want to live in a peaceful world.
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Developing countries often treat the environment poorly because they cannot afford to follow environmental standards. Canada's help to these countries also helps the environment, which helps people all over the world.
- Canada is a rich country that can afford to help others. Most people in Canada want to help people in other countries who are suffering.
- A poor country cannot participate in trade with Canada. As a country grows stronger and richer, Canada can begin to trade with this country.
- As conditions in developing countries improve, conditions become more stable and peaceful. Canadians want to live in a peaceful world.
- Developing countries often treat the environment poorly because they cannot afford to follow environmental standards. Canada's help to these countries also helps the environment, which helps people all over the world.
A major consideration for any nation that is offering aid is to be aware of cultural beliefs and attitudes that exist in the nation that is to receive the aid.
This can be something as basic as knowing that Hindu people in India do not eat beef. In India, the cow is thought of as the symbol of life and may never be killed. So sending a shipment of cattle to India to be slaughtered for meat is a complete waste of resources.
Another example would be sending gas camp stoves for cooking to countries in need. This may seem like a good idea, but it is not if the people have no money to buy the gas, even if it is available. Help can be in many forms, and these vary depending on the country's needs. Some assistance programs are long-term, while others may meet an immediate need. Long-term aid is meant to establish opportunities for the people in the country to continue to improve their lives.
Sometimes a catastrophic event requires several nations to provide massive supplies of food, drinking water, doctors, nurses, and temporary shelter to prevent deaths among survivors. The differences between long-term and short-term aid are examined in the next activity.
What Others Have Said ...
The
beauty of effective foreign aid is that it can make such a difference.
It’s not only about the benefits for families in developing
countries — that aid saves people's lives, allows children to get good
nutrition, and helps small farmers escape from poverty; it's also about
the security benefits, since aid creates the conditions for countries to
be more peaceful and stable.
- Ernest Loevinsohn, February 2011
What Others Have Said ...
The
beauty of effective foreign aid is that it can make such a difference.
It’s not only about the benefits for families in developing
countries — that aid saves people's lives, allows children to get good
nutrition, and helps small farmers escape from poverty; it's also about
the security benefits, since aid creates the conditions for countries to
be more peaceful and stable.
- Ernest Loevinsohn, February 2011
The beauty of effective foreign aid is that it can make such a difference. It’s not only about the benefits for families in developing countries — that aid saves people's lives, allows children to get good nutrition, and helps small farmers escape from poverty; it's also about the security benefits, since aid creates the conditions for countries to be more peaceful and stable.
- Ernest Loevinsohn, February 2011